Attack On Titan: A New Breed
by Savlator-HeartBreaker
Summary: Apparently Titans weren't the top of the food chain...
1. Summoning

"Attack On Titan: A New Breed  
"Chapter One: Summoning'

_"With the more that I fought_  
_ the more that I lost,_  
_ and the more that I lost,_  
_ the more I realized that no one ever truly won."_

_Books, books, and more books..._

_He wasn't entirely certain of why the forbidden works of literature were so fascinating to him. Maybe it was because they were in fact prohibited, and the government had banished reading and owning books a long time ago. The remaining few humans had established a peaceful life inside the three holy walls, and the government did not want anyone forming any ideas about trying to leave. And why would anyone want to leave if they never knew about all of the wonderful things there where missing out on from the outer world?_

_Despite novels and other books being forbidden, Armin's grandfather had a couple stashed away. Highly illegal, yes, but Armin was glad that they had them. He loved to sneak off to a vacant meadow or ally way, just so that he could read about the outer world in peace and private. The salty waters, the desert lands and grassy lands... it was all so intriguing. He wanted to see it. He wanted to bare witness to it all._

_The blonde haired boy grabbed the first book from his grandpa's hidden collection that he spotted before running off to an uncrowded back ally that was not too far of a distance from his house. He happily plopped himself down on the brick road before carefully placing the precious book on the ground before him._

_He could hardly contain his excitement as his aqua colored eyes traced over the details of the book's cover. This one was different from all of the others he had borrowed. It was bound by a black leather, and there was an odd engraving on the surface of the cover. He carefully traced his nimble fingers over the carved symbol. It was a bizarre marking, something he had never seen before. At first glance, it appeared to be a carving of an inverted star, centered directly in the middle of a circle. Above the symbol was the Latin word "Daemon" written in an elegant cursive. _

_He had never previously noticed this book among the others. With great curiosity, Armin flipped open the book to its first page. Much to his disappointment, this book did not contain pictures or interesting facts about the outer world like most of the others did. Instead, all of the pages were inked in a foreign language and covered with more unusual symbols much like the one on the cover. He flipped through a couple more pages, but they were all relatively the same._

_"Ouch!" He hissed out when his thumb was sliced open by the edge of the paper. He immediately recoiled his hand from the book. placing his bleeding thumb in his mouth. Paper cuts were the only negative side to books..._

_His eyes fixated on the symbol of the page that he had cut himself on. A few droplets of blood had managed to stain the pages. He frowned at the sight. The spilled blood had fallen directly in the center of another circular design. A shocked expression took hold of his face as he observed the crimson liquid be absorbed into the paper. He picked the book up to hold it closer to his face as he scrutinized the paper's surface._

_He noticed that there was a title for this particular symbol. "Daemon...Adamantino?" He murmured, reading the words to himself. The exact moment tha he spoke up, the black ink of the symbol glowed a bright red. Armin's eyes widened._

_"Ah!" He screamed out when a tattooed arm shot up out of the scarlet light. Without a moment of hesitation, he had slammed the book shut with as much force as he could muster. The mysterious hand was severed from whatever it had been attached to and fell into Armin's lap. He panicked and threw the the limp onto the ground before him. The arm landed a few feet in front of him; he curled his legs in to touch his chest, pressing himself into the wall of the building behind him._

_His heart was pounding in his chest, and his breathing had become deeply labored. What the hell had just happened? The terror in his eyes became more apparent as he witnessed the flesh of the hand slowly covert into what appeared to be some sort of shimmery glass or stone. The odd, black tribal tattoos turned translucent with the rest of the flesh. He closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths. He had to be dreaming. This was nothing more than a very bad dream._

_He slowly peaked open one of his blue eyes._

_**It was still there..**._

.

..

,,,,

,,

,

_"You are nothing more than a disgrace to our breed."_

Her brother's repeated in her head over and over. It had been the last thing he said to her before attempting to deliver a final blow and end her life. She had managed to escape just in time before she met her end by transporting to the human world. The human world was always safe, or at least that was how she last remembered it to be.

However, this time around, things were different. She thought she would find herself in some type of town, but instead she found herself in an unpopulated forest. Unpopulated by humans, that was. She was gripping her injuries, as if that would stop the pain, as she traveled through the vacant forest.

It was strange seeing the human world without actually seeing any humans. Things seemed to have really changed since she had last visited. Though that was over a few hundred years ago, so it shouldn't have really been a surprise to her. She looked around, deeply disturbed by the lack of life in the surrounding area.

Distracted by her own thoughts, she failed to notice a protruding tree root before catching her foot on it and stumbling hard onto the dirt floor. She smacked into the ground so hard that she felt the wind get knocked out of her lungs. After her harsh collision, she realized just how severe her injuries were.

She wanted to get up, but her body refused. Her aching muscles gave out, and her broken bones did not seem to help her condition. She could taste the irony taste of blood in her mouth after she collapsed. She must have bitten her tongue. Her eyelids felt heavy, and her breathing slowed to an almost nonexistent pace.

_'I'm tired.' _She realized. She felt cold, and the exhaustion from battling her older brother was creeping up on her quickly. _'I'm going to die alone, in the human world.'_ Funny how things always turned out this way. This was exactly what her brother had called her a disgrace for. He was upset with her for caring about the humans in the first place. She had noticed an increase in human deaths, and an increase of damned souls entering Hell. She wanted to see what was happening in the human realm. She was concerned.

Her brother could care less though. He never valued any form of life unless it was his own. He hated humans, and the only thing he saw them useful for was food. He had the same view of humans as most of their kind did. Unlikely for her, she was cursed with the ability to care and sympathize with other species. So she was interested in what would possibly leading to such a downfall in a once overpopulated breed.

Her curiousness was quickly fading as unconsciousness gradually took hold of her.

.

..

...

..

.

"Captain Levi!" A female soldier called out in panic. Using his 3D maneuver device he was over in her area within a matter of second.

"What?" He responded a bit grumpily after realizing there was no sign of a titan and that she was not calling him for help.

"I found a girl... A human girl." She told him with a quiet voice, still in shock that she found a person out in the middle of the forest.

"Dead or alive?"

"Alive I think... And she isn't wearing a military uniform... She appears to be just an average citizen."

Levi approached the scene to see what exactly his fellow soldier was talking about. She was right, the girl that was found was indeed not a soldier, but she was far from an ordinary citizen. His charcoal colored eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of her.

Even in her bloodied up, damaged form, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. With her short, layered strawberry blonde hair. and her slender, yet curvy body. He took a few steps closer and helps his companion roll the girl over onto her back. His eyes immediately caught view of her gorgeous face and he found himself holding his breath from suspense. She was near what he imagined to be perfection. With her heart shaped face, high and well pronounced cheek bones, plump crimson lips and long thick eyelashes, she was the picture perfect image of beauty. How could a girl like this disappear from a village and not be noticed?

He glanced over her once more and noted that she was breathing steadily, despite her extensive injuries. "Find one of the extra horses. We are taking her back with us." He ordered in his usually stern voice.

The female soldier nodded and quickly obeyed. "Yes sir."

.

..

...

..

.

Two Days Later-

_'It's so warm...'_ The blonde haired girl thought to herself as she began to come to. Was she still in the forest? That was the last place she remembered being. But her surroundings felt different now. She was no longer laying on the cold dirt floor, but rather she was laying in something soft and warm. A bed maybe?

"She sustained many injuries... She broke a leg, a couple of ribs, and it appears that she has some internal damage. Surprisingly she is going rather well. I don't think surgery will be necessary." She heard a woman say.

"Hm." She heard a deeper voice reply to the woman who had previously spoken.

"You said your squad found this girl alone in the forest?" There was no audible response, but the woman continued anyways. "That is odd... She doesn't appear to be a soldier, and none of her injuries seem to be caused by a titan..."

Another grunt from the other member in the room was made. This guy certainly wasn't one for small talk.

_"Hmm.."_ She tried to force herself into full consciousness, and her eyes slowly opened. She flinched and snapped her eyes back shut when a burning bright light met her gaze. "_Ahh!" _She hissed out, barely managing to throw her arm up to shield her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She heard the woman respond immediately before she closed the window blinds to block out the intruding sunlight. The blonde haired girl cautiously let her arm back down and peered up at the two people standing over her.

The woman was small in stature, and wearing what appeared to be some sort of medical outfit. She must have either been a nurse or doctor. She was rather plain, with brown hair and brown eyes to match. She had a few freckles that dusted over her rosy cheeks, and glossy pink lips. She was all too normal to catch any interest. The male on the other hand... he was a different story.

He had raven black hair, cut in a style that she was unfamiliar with- not too short, and not too long. He had unique charcoal gray eyes, and pale skin that made the darkness of his hair and eyes stand out all the more to her. He was almost rather small in stature, probably only reaching around five feet and two inches, but he still somehow managed to look intimidating and he held a certain authority to him that she admired. Her bright colored eyes glanced over his clothing, noticing that he wore some sort of soldier uniform.

Levi stared back at the girl in silence as she carefully examined him. He was slightly shocked to see that the girl had two uniquely colored eyes, her left eye being a bright green and her right being a glittering blue. Though her eyes were beautiful, there was almost something animal like about them. Maybe it was the way that her pupils seemed to narrow into feline like slits, or how the shape of her eyes gaze her a mysterious, yet somehow seductive appearance.

"Where... Am I?" He heard the girl speak, and he was surprised to hear such a soft purr for a voice.

"You're at a hospital sweetie... My name is Sara, and this is Levi. His squad found you out in the forest." The nurse told her with a honey-sweet voice. She offered the beautiful blonde a small smile. "Can you tell me what your name is dear?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Nicole... Nicole Knight." Her voice came out as more of whisper this time.

Sara jotted down some notes onto the paper held by her clipboard. "Good, good... Now Nicole, do you think you could tell me how you got these injuries? It would be nice to know just to make sure we are providing you with the best of treatments for your condition."

_"Injuries?" _She had forgotten about the pain, but the moment that she was reminded about it, the aching hit her hard. Nicole's face crumbled in pain once the memories came flashing back. _You are nothing but a disgrace to out kind... _She trembled and wrapped her own arms around her. Her eyes shut tightly as she attempted to fight back the tears. "No," She murmured, causing Sara and Levi to look at her with a questioning gaze. "_NO!"_ She screamed, her hands came up to grip her head as she viciously shook her head back and forth. "_Stay away from me... STAY AWAY!_" She continued to show while thrashing around wildly.

"Nicole! Nicole! No one is here to hurt you!" The nurse told her, alarmed by the sudden outburst. Nicole continued to panic, until eventually another nurse ran into the room with some sedatives and injected them into her IV to knock her out.

"No...no...don't..." Her voice quickly came to a halt as the drugs entered her system and made her lose consciousness once more.

"That was certainly unexpected..." Sara commented to herself.

Levi stood back and watched the entire scene unfold, the entire time just finding himself wondering, 'What the hell could have happened to this girl?'

TBC


	2. Run Away

How long had it been since she had been placed here? She wasn't sure. A few hours, a few days... Maybe even a week. The human's were doing everything they could to try healing her rather extensive injuries, but it was useless. Her brother had embedded some of his own energy into her injuries, preventing her quick regenerative abilities from being of any use. If she could not manage to restore the damaged flesh, she was absolutely positive that neither could they.

The blonde haired beauty was laying flat on her back, staring up at the stark white ceiling above her. Where would she go from here? What was there to do beyond this point? She was not one to give up, but she had been beaten badly enough to consider the idea of surrendering. She closed her mismatched eyes and inhaled a much needed deep breath. Her best option was to lay low for a while in this human world before trying to return to her realm and deal with her brother. It was decided.

She shuddered at the thought of the battle between her and her brother. She had always known that he was much stronger than herself. but actually seeing it for herself was frightening. Her jaw clenched and her heart beat accelerated at the memory. _You are nothing more than a disgrace to our breed. _His voice repeated in her head over and over again. Perhaps what he said was true...

"Good morning." A masculine voice echoed in the room, startling Nicole. She jumped into a sitting position, immediately regretting the decision when a torturous pain stabbed at her stomach and chest region. Her attentive eyes had snapped open and landed upon what appeared to be another soldier. Unlike the one she had previously met, this soldier was much taller in stature, and had light golden blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Nicole noticed she was glaring at the unknown human and tried calming herself down, but still found herself on edge. He gave her a sympathetic half smile. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to frighten you."

He entered further into the room and glanced at a wooden chair that had been placed across the room from where she was located. "May I take a seat?" Her eyes followed towards the chair that he motioned to with his gaze. She gave a brief nod. She cautiously watched every one of his movements as he took residence on the chair.

Once seated, he deliberately made eye contact with her, putting Nicole at ease when she saw he meant her no harm. "Your name is Nicole, isn't it?" She replied with another nod. "My name is Erwin. It's nice to meet you Nicole." She attempted to twitch him a small smile.

Seeing that she had nothing to say, he decided to continue speaking. "I was informed that you were found outside of the Walls. Is that correct?"

_Walls? _"...I don't know. I suppose if that's what they told you, that must be true." She answered, shocking him with an unusually calm demeanor.

"Which area did you previously live in? Did you live on the outskirts, before the wall was compromised?"

It was obvious that she had never been more confused in her life. What walls? Compromised by what? Does all of this have to do with the increase in the deaths of humans? Was there a war going on? There were so many unanswered questions that it gave her a headache.

"Guessing by the confused look on your face, you have no idea what I am talking about, do you?" She shook her head. He stared at her in wonder. "May I ask where you are from then?"

She hesitated. What was she supposed to tell him? Would he even be able to comprehend it if she told him? Telling a human that you are a demon from Hell can go one of two ways. Either they reject you and try killing you (which is laughable at most times, but given her current state, it was a more serious threat to consider) or they accept you and try to use you to fight their battles and wars. Both options were not ideal. "I... Don't know."

His intense gaze remained on her for a while, trying to decipher everything about her. "I see. You must be a long way from home then."

_Home._ That was sort of a foreign concept to her at the moment. A home was supposed to be the place that you feel most comfortable. A place that you feel loved. A place that you are safe. She no longer had that. _He_ took that away from her. That monster took everything important away from her.

Her heartbeat picked up in pace and began to angrily throb inside of her chest. Her feline eyes fixated on a blank spot on the wall just above Erwin's head. If she was ever given the opportunity, she would kill him. It was only right that she should get the chance to get revenge for what he had done. Their home was just as equally hers as it was his. He had no right taking that away from her.

Erwin kept silence as he noticed the sudden change in the girl's demeanor. He watched as she focused her eyes on something in the room, but he knew that she wasn't really staring at anything in particular, but rather that she was staring right through it. Her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched. He wondered what she was thinking, and almost asked her until an unusual clattering noise distracted him. He turned his eyes away from her and stared at the objects around the room.

There was a small metal tray resting on a stand next to her bed that contained a plate of food and utensils that had been brought to Nicole. Erwin's eyes widened as he watched the fork and knife violently shake against the table until they eventually were forced off of the tray and began to levitate a few inches off of the tray's surface. He shifted his eyes back towards Nicole and saw her breathing much more heavily now. The intensity of her stare only increasing as she fell deeper into her rage.

The same thought kept running through her head over and over again. She was going to kill her brother. She had every right to kill him. She _would_ kill him. Nicole was concentrating so hard on her thoughts that she failed to notice the effect that her emotions were having on her demonic energy. The clattering of objects in the room fell upon deaf ears.

There was a sudden, excruciatingly painful burning sensation located near left shoulder. She hissed in pain, her hand jolted to her the area where her shoulder and collarbone joined as she snapped out of her trance. The objects that had previously been suspended in mid air were reclaimed by gravity. Nicole flinched when she heard the utensils crash to the ground. _What had she done?_

She glanced up at Erwin. The look on his face said it all- she had slipped up. She always did things like this when she lost control of herself. "I just want to be alone..." She murmured, avoiding further eye contact with the human soldier. He didn't verbally respond to her request, he just got up and took his leave.

Outside, near the door, stood Levi, patiently waiting for some news from Erwin. Once he spotted Erwin exiting the hospital room, he pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning against and took his place standing in front of his captain. "So, what do you think?"

Erwin contemplated his words, piecing his thoughts together carefully before answering Levi's question. "There is something unique about her. But I cannot place exactly what it is. I have never seen something like her before. Though I am certain she is not...human."

Levi's eyes narrowed. "Do you want me to kill her?"

"No." Erwin turned his gaze back towards the door that he had just walked out of. "I don't think that she is human, but I also am not sure whether she bares any ill against us." He turned back towards Levi, making direct eye contact with the shorter male. "I want you to keep a close eye on her. Don't let her out of your sight. Try to figure out if she can be an ally. If not... than do as you see fit."

Levi's jaw tensed, but he nodded anyways. He wasn't sure if this was the best idea, but he wasn't one to openly question Erwin. After receiving his orders, he made his way into the room. He pushed open the room, expecting to find the blonde headed girl relaxing in her bed. His charcoal eyes widened when he found the room to be empty.

_She was gone._

OoOoOoO


	3. Catch Me (If You Can)

Chapter Three: Catch Me (If You Can)

"They_ can take away my freedom_

_They can take away my home_

_They can take away my everything_

_But they cannot take away the stars."_

Levi searched the room with his eyes for a brief second. His charcoal eyes quickly fixated on the opened window across the wind from the outside world sent a chilling breeze through the window, flapping the cotton curtains around wildly. It took a lot of effort to not release a heavy, annoyed sigh. He could already tell that this brat was going to make his life miserable.

oOoOoOo

There was nothing like having the cold breeze running through her hair again.

After making the bold escape, Nicole immediately tried to dart for the nearest place that was void of people. Which was surprisingly a lot more difficult to find than she originally thought would be. After exploring the outside world, she finally realized what that blonde headed soldier had meant by 'the walls'. They were so massive, that even she was impressed. They must really be trying to keep something away from them...

Nicole dashed through the street ways of the villages, dodging all of the people who got in her way. She heard a few startled gasps and muted screams by some of the people that she ran by. She leaped up onto one of the building's rooftops, grimacing when the harsh landing sent a jolt of pain throughout her body. She flinched, quickly falling down on one knee and grabbing at her broken ribs. _Dammit. _She was not used to having to be gentle. She silently cursed her brother again for giving her those injuries.

She shook off the pain and stood back on her feet once more so that she could scout her surrounding landscape. Her hyper sensitive vision allowed her to pick up on things that no human ever could. Her pupils narrowed into slits as she stared off towards the setting sun. Her gaze focused on a area clustered with trees far off in the distance. It was a long shot, but if there was anywhere that would be unpopulated by humans within these walls, she had a feeling that that would be the place. So that's where she headed.

OoOoOoO

She had forgotten how beautiful the unpopulated areas on the human world could be. The grass was always greener, the trees were always taller, the air was always fresher and the water was always cleaner wherever humans were not present. Nicole had wondered off to a nearby river bank. Luckily for her, not many people wandered out from the city area.

She was certain that it was still daytime when she had left the hospital, but now she noticed a that the sun began to set, casting an array of colors among the clouds. She stared up at the magnificent sight, completely in awe as she observed the perish shades of pink and orange that coated the once white fluffy clouds. This world was insignificant to hers in every way except for this. There would never be a sight nearly as beautiful as the Earth's sunsets and starry nights.

Watching the sunset made her feel slightly more at peace. She wasn't focused on how much she missed her homeland or how angry she was that she was currently exiled by her brother, but rather she was just satisfied with the view in front of her. _Maybe this is what the humans live for. _Nicole closed her eyes, enjoying the last bit of the sun's warmth on her skin as it slowly slipped away only to be replaced by the fragile light of moon. She reopened her multicolored eyes to stare up at the stars as they glittered in the distant skies. _Yes, this was something worth living for. _Her muscles went lax, and her mind suddenly felt at ease. Nothing mattered anymore. She could fall asleep right here, and never have to deal with any problems ever again.

She was jerked out of her relaxed state when she heard footsteps approaching her. An unexpected scent caught her attention. Her mind flashed back to _that_ soldier. Without a moment of hesitation, she went to spin on her heel and make a bolt for it, but a firm grip grabbed her by the bicep. A hiss of pain escaped her lips when the pressure applied to her arm hit a bruised area. She had twisted away from the grasping hand with such force that she wound up tripping herself, toppling over onto the dirt floor, and accidentally bringing the intruder down with her.

They landed with a quiet 'thud', the other person colliding into Nicole and pinning her to the ground. "_Kyah!"_ Nicole hissed out again, this time releasing a small growl of dissatisfaction when a more severe pain erupted throughout her body. "Get off of me you fat ass!"

The second person pulled away from her almost immediately, standing back up so that he could brush the dirt off of his once pristine white pants. "Tch...filthy..." Levi mumbled under his breath, earning a glare from Nicole.

"What the hell do you want?" She snapped, annoyed at the fact that he was more concerned over the fact that he had a stain on his pants than the fact that he trampled over her.

Once he gave up on trying to clean himself, he glared right back at her with his steel gray eyes. "You're coming back with me."

"Like hell I am."

Within a blink of an eye, he had snatched her back up by her arm, dragging her up to her feet. "Lets go, you shitty little brat." He ordered, yanking her forward as he turned back towards the village and took a step forward.

_The audacity of this man._ She dug her heels into the ground and refused to budge. "Who the _fuck_ do you think you are?!" Her words only earned her another hateful glare. She felt an uncontrolled rage bubble up inside of her chest. Her feline eyes narrowed and she glared directly back at him, her bright eyes meeting his steal gray stare. She jerked her arm away and swatted his hand away from her. "_Don't touch me._" her voice had dropped into a low and lethal tone.

The sudden change in her demeanor had caught him off guard. His pace stuttered, his glare turned into a look of shock for a brief moment. Nicole could feel her heart hammering inside of her chest, her breathing was ragged. She could feel another surge of energy that was just yearning to come out, but once again, she was calmed down by an intense pain burning into her collar bone. "_Ahh," _She hissed, dropping to her knees and reaching up to grasp the burning area. Once her rage simmered down, the pain started to fade away along side it.

She slowly made a stand once more, keeping silent the entire time. Without a word, she reached for the collar of her shirt and pulled it down, revealing the area where her collar bone and left shoulder met. Her eyes widened in shock when she was a new black tattoo etched into her skin. _A seal._ She recognized the angel markings that were used to subdue a demon's energy.

Levi watched her the entire time, taking notice to the shock that appeared on her face when she discovered the mark on her body. He watched as her shoulder slumped and her arms fell back to her side. He sensed a lose of will. Nicole's eyes dropped to the ground. She looked like she was defeated. She finally stepped forward. "Okay." She murmured, "Let's go." He didn't inquire as to why she had a sudden loss of spirit, but his eyes narrowed as he watched her move forward back to the town.

_What was wrong with this girl?_


	4. A Misguided Hero

Chapter Four: A Misguided Hero

"_The strong will always have an unparalleled love for the weak,_

_because without the weak, there is no strength."_

It was an empty feeling. Having her friends, family and home taken away from her was not enough. Now she was stripped of her power and strength too. She had been stranded and left in an unfamiliar world, completely defenseless. Nicole had been in bed for the last few days now. The short soldier had given her a room at his squad's station. It wasn't as impressive as her room back home, but at least it had a bed.

Nicole rolled onto her side and absentmindedly stared at the wall before her. She could hear the soldiers starting to get ready for the day. She could hear the distinguished noises of them rustling through their wardrobe, searching for a fresh uniform for the day. Her heightened senses picked up almost everything that happened inside of the building. She could hear when they turned on the showers, when they walked down the halls and greeted one another. Her sense of smell could even pick up the smells when the preparation of breakfast started.

"Do you think she will ever come out of her room?" She heard the women she had come to know as Petra speak up. She could sense that they were in the dining room now. She didn't hear a response, so she assumed that someone gave her an uncaring shrug in reply. "It's been at least three days now. She has to eat eventually."

She felt her stomach grumble. Well that statement was true. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually eaten. As a half demon, she was not required to eat unless she needed to recuperate and restock on energy (which was not often). However, the seal seemed to be eating at her demonic energy, and she could literally feel her body deteriorating from the inside out. Sometimes it was difficult being a halfbreed.

Nicole forced herself out of bed, noticing that her legs were a bit wobbly when she stood. She stumbled out of her provided room and down the hall, making her way to the dining room where everyone else was located. She could feel their curious gazes land on her when she approached the long dining table and sat down next to Petra.

"Oh! Good morning Nicole!" Petra greeted, offering a friendly, yet surprised smile. Nicole briefly glanced at the ginger haired girl and nodded in acknowledgment to her greeting.

"Mornin'." She replied. She settled her hands on the table top, folding them together in front of her. Her mismatched eyes dropped to awkwardly stare at her conjoined hands.

"Are you hungry? I can fetch you some breakfast." Petra offered.

"Yes." Nicole peered up briefly as she watched Petra take her stand and trot over to the kitchen to grab a bowl of food for her. She returned within a matter of minute, bringing Nicole a bowl of what appeared to be some sort of oatmeal blend and a cup of hot tea. Nicole's nose wrinkled in disgust. Being a bloodthirsty demon, human food generally did not appeal to her, but she took the meal regardless and gave a small nod of thanks.

Nicole picked up the spoon Petra provided her with and carefully scooped up some of the oatmeal. She found herself holding her breath as she stuck the spoon in her mouth and forced herself to swallow the undesirable mouthful. "Hmmm." She reached for her cup of tea and took a sip, cringing slightly at the taste of that as well. Everything the humans ate tasted like garbage.

Petra offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry if you don't like it, we don't have very many options..."

Nicole shrugged and forced herself to consume a couple more bites of oatmeal. "I've had worse." That was probably a lie. She couldn't think of anything much worse.

There was a moment of silence while Nicole ate. She felt awkward due to the fact that everyone from Levi's squad was intently staring at her. She felt her stomach make another odd grumbled. She wasn't sure if this human food was helping or actually making her feel worse than before. After a couple more spoonfuls, she gave up and pushed the bowl forward a little, deciding it was best if she stopped eating that putrid mush.

"So Nicole, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?" She heard Petra speak up again. Damn this girl sure was talkative.

"What do you want to know?"

There was a moment of contemplation on Petra's behave. She brought her hand to her face and used her index finger to gently tap her chin. Her eyes gazed upwards for a moment while she thought of some of the many questions she could ask Nicole. "Uhmm,,, do you have any family nearby?"

Nicole's shoulders became rigid. "No." Her voice came out far more harsh than she originally intended.

Petra frowned at the brash response. She didn't blame Nicole though, it was a stupid question to ask. She immediately assumed that Nicole had lost her family to some tragic incident, so she shut her mouth and glanced towards Nicole with an apologetic look before dropping her eyes back to her bowl of oatmeal and continuing to eat the now cold mush.

There was an awkward silence between the squad and the half demon. Nicole finally became uncomfortable enough that she stood up, took her bowl over to the sink to wash it, then made her way over to the nearest exit. "I'm going for a walk."

"No." Levi's voice came out stern and strict. The blonde haired beauty turned her head to glare at him. "You will stay right here where I can watch you." His steel grey eyes glared right back at her.

She let out an obnoxious scoff and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, good luck with that. Don't wait up, I'll be out late." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Levi made his stand, taking a few strides towards her, but before he could reach the door, she had already stepped out, and just like before, she was gone out of sight within a matter of seconds.

Levi seethed while he searched the surrounding area for her. He hated how she did that…

oOoOoOo

Nicole found herself back in the human town, but this time she actually took the time to walk through it. She travelled at a sluggish pace down the stone roads, taking in every site to see. Her vibrant eyes were full wonder. She walked passed a couple of stands that were selling vegetables and a small variety of spices and breads meant for cooking. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. She really did hate human food.

However, it did make her wonder. What had happened to set the humans back so far? Last time she was here, there were all kinds of inbuilding markets and grocery stores. There were once a large variety of machinery and travelling options, but now they were back to riding on horses or traveling by foot. She had to admit that it was refreshing. The last time she had set foot on this planet, she could hardly breathe. The air had been so tainted with smog that it choked her up anytime that she took a breath. She took a deep inhale, happy that it was clean air that met her lungs.

"Hey, get back here you brat!" Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden outburst. She felt something smack into her leg. It didn't phase her, but the small child that had crashed into her leg had been caught off guard, and he tumbled backwards. He landed with a painful thud, all of the potatoes that he had stolen and stuffed in his shirt fell out of his clutches and onto the ground. Nicole caught a small glimpse of the vegetables scattering all over the open road.

A small boy, no older than seven years of age stared up at Nicole in terror. She dropped her attentive eyes to his figure. He was so small and scrawny, definitely malnourished and sickly. He had shaggy blackish hair, and deep green eyes. He reminded Nicole of her little brother. "Hey, watch where you are going kid." She scolded him with a hiss. He didn't reply, he continued to stare up at her with panicked eyes.

She found herself slightly curious about this boy. She tilted her head to the side and opened her mouth to ask what was wrong with him, but before the words could come out, the child was snatched up by some bulky man. A middle aged man yanked the boy up by the collar of his shirt. The dark haired boy started to cry, tears streamed down his face as he struggled to get free from the older man. "You little scavenger! I should have you arrested!" The man shouted, making Nicole flinch as the brash noise reached her oversensitive ears. "I have a lot of friends in the military police, and they will put you away for a very long time for this!" He threatened, causing the little boy to cry even more.

It didn't take much effort to piece together that the boy must have stolen from that man's fields or his stand. Regardless, she felt herself feeling bad for the kid. "Hey, just let him go. He dropped all of the food anyways." She reasoned.

"Stay out of it wench!" He snapped back at her.

In a flash, Nicole's hand was wrapped around the man's wrist. She held him by the wrist with a bone crushing force, causing him to yelp and instantly release the child in his grasp. "You bitch!" She effortlessly twisted his wrist, easily dropping him to his knees as she put him into a wrist lock.

"You look like you can afford to drop a few pounds. So why don't you piss off, you worthless maggot." She hissed out, a hint of malice flashing through her mismatched eyes. The sudden fear made itself known on the man's face.

"Okay, okay! He can have the food! Just let me go!" He desperately plead. Satisfied with his response, she threw him to the ground with an exaggerated force.

"Now scram." He did as she commanded, immediately scrambling to his feet and taking off in the opposite direction.

Her eyes followed him until he was out of sight. Once he was gone, she dropped her gaze back to the vegetables that still remained scattered in the streets. No one else had dared picking them up after witnessing what Nicole was capable of. She could hear some faint whispers among the crowd. Some of the humans were wondering whether she was some sort of underground thug or criminal. She let out a scoff.

Her gaze remained on the potato nearest to her. _How pathetic, All of these complications and for what? A root vegetable?_ No wonder this race was so doomed. A fat man was so selfish that he was willing to attack an undernourished child that was just trying to satisfy his hunger. It made her sick. _I guess this place hasn't changed in one aspect at least._

Nicole watched at the little boy finally regained some composure and started to gather the potatoes once more. Once he collected them all, he turned away from her He took a step forward, but then paused and looked back at Nicole once more. Turning back towards her, he carefully picked one of the potatoes and reached out to hand it to the demoness. She carefully watched as he reached out, offering her something to eat. She let out a small, breathless laugh.

"Trust me kid, I wont eat that."


	5. Anything He Can Do, She Can Do Better

_**"Anything He Can Do, She Can Do Better"**_

_"He loved her for the challenge. She loved him, because she knew she would always win."_

That child had brought up some unexpected feelings in her. She was never fond of children, she was still far too young of a demon to have developed motherly instincts. But that little boy was different from any other child she had ever experienced. He looked fearful and afraid, but at the same time she could sense that he had been determined to be brave. He didn't steal without reason, he had stolen with a purpose. Ultimately, she realized that that was why she had chosen to assist him.

She convinced herself that it was only out of pity, and that was what she honestly believed. She pitied him because no matter how determined he was to be strong and brave, he never would be. Those are too things that a human could never be.

After coming to his rescue, she was shocked to see the young child show such gratitude. Offering her one of the stolen vegetables, though she could clearly see he was malnourished and needed it far more than she ever would. It shocked her to see such kindness. She had never thought a human could actually be kind. From everything she had seen during her immortal life, she hadn't thought that humans were capable of kindness and selflessness either.

It gave her a small amount of hope to see such a redeeming quality in that boy. Maybe humans in general were doomed, but this child was different from the rest. That was why she decided to walk him home. Protecting this one little light among the shadows just seemed like the right thing to do.

He didn't say much during the walk, he just kept his green eyes focused on the ground. That was fine by Nicole, because she wasn't fond of small talk. She wasn't surprised to see that he lived in a rundown hut in the ghetto area of the village. Once they arrived, she paused by the door and waited for him to go inside before turning and making her leave. The child paused before entering the house, then turned around to wrap his arms around her waist and give her a hug. He whispered a 'thank you' before releasing her from his embrace and sprinting inside of his home.

Nicole stuttered in her step for a moment, confused by his gesture. The last time she could recall ever being embraced by another was over a couple centuries ago, when she was a child and her mother would hold her. It sent a chill up her spine. _What an odd child._ She shook her head of that thought and turned on her heel to leave.

oOoOoOoOo

It was late by the time she arrived back at the base where Levi and his squad were located. Everyone should have been asleep. but not everyone was. Nicole's feline eyes catch a glimpse of Levi in the main room, waiting in the dark for her to arrive. She made sure to quietly close the door behind her, making as little noise as she possibly could. "You should have just gone to bed." She murmured to an irritated Levi.

"Where did you go?" He demanded in a harsh tone.

She turned to face him, her multicolored eyes practically glowed in the dark. Her slit pupils dilated and fixated on him, taking in every little detail. He looked exhausted. There were bags underneath his eyes and there was his constant scowl. "Out. Like I said."

His eyes narrowed, glaring at her the moment she responded. He could not stand her constant attitude. No one ever defied him, and he was going to beat her into submission if it killed him. He got up from his seat and approached her with a threatening aura. He stopped when their faces were only inches apart. He glared down into her eyes, finding it annoying that she kept her stance and held eye contact with him the entire time. She never showed an ounce of fear or respect towards him. "Next time I tell you to stay put, _you will stay put._" He ordered through clenched teeth. He was seething on the inside.

She tilted her head to the side, but managed to never once break eye contact. "I am not one of your soldiers. I will never bow down to you. I will never respect you. And I will _**NEVER**_ take orders from someone like _**YOU.**_" Her voice sounded calm, but her words sure had a bite to them. Levi briefly lost his composure, looking taken back for a moment until he was able to put his poker face back on. Nicole avoided any further confrontation by stepping around him and making her way down the hall to her designated room. "Get some sleep, **_Captain_**, you look like shit." The sarcasm was practically dripping from her tone, she gave a brief wave to him over his shoulder as she continued to walk away from him.

That damn bitch made his blood boil. He watched as she disappeared into her room, silently wishing that he had left her in the forest when they initially found her. If he had known that she was going to be this annoying, he definitely would have. He had too much shit to deal with already, he didn't need a pissy little brat prancing around his squad's station too.

oOoOoOoOo

It was one of those rare nights where Nicole had actually been able to sleep peacefully. The moment she hit the mattress of her bed, she was out like a light. To her disappointment, her sleep didn't last as long as she would have liked it to. Around five in the morning, Levi came into her room, and rolled her right out of bed and onto the hard concrete floor. "Fuck!" She hissed out when she smacked into the ground beneath her. She immediately used her arms to push her off of the ground and glared up at the dark haired captain. Despite the fact that he never smiled, she could see a hint of amusement on his face.

At that moment, she decided she would eventually sneak into his room at night and smother him with a pillow. "Get ready," he ordered, only earning a string of curse words from Nicole.

She stumbled back onto her feet. "For what?" She snapped, glowering at him with hateful eyes.

"My squad will be training today. You are going with them."

"The hell I am."

"This is not an option."

She could feel her blood boiling. This arrogant bastard. Thinking he could turn her into one of his soldiers. She so badly wanted to sock him in the face, but she decided against it. For now. She didn't need to be exiled from this planet too. So she begrudgingly complied. "Let me get dressed and showered first."

Levi had to use everything in his power to fight the smug smirk that tugged at his lips. He turned away, leaving her in the room by herself. Nicole sulked for a moment before treading to the closet and searching for a suitable outfit to wear. Humans had no sense of fashion. Each outfit in the closet made her scowl. She finally picked out a pair of solid black pants and a black long sleeved shirt. With a heavy sigh, she made her way out of her room with the clothes and to the squad's shower area.

She walked into the shower room, half expecting it to be crowded. She was relieved to see the only one currently in the room was Petra. The strawberry blonde haired girl was wrapped in a towel, standing in front of a mirror. Nicole walked right passed her, over towards a shower head. Petra stopped what she was doing for a minute and glanced over at the Nicole as she stripped down and started the shower.

Petra did a double take when she saw the amount of tribal tattoos that covered Nicole's body. Her entire left arm was covered in a sleeve of tattoos, and there was more covering her shoulders, spine and lower back. She didn't understand what most of the markings for. She could make out that the tattoo on her shoulder blades were a pair of abstract wings, but as for the rest of the symbols, they just looked like tribal markings or designs to her. "Nicole... Can I ask you something?"

"Hm." Nicole answered, lathering up her hair with shampoo as she listened for a question.

"What's with all of the tattoos? Do they mean something?" She wondered, taking another glance over the markings that covered her body. Her brown eyes lingered over a tattoo that she noticed on Nicole's collarbone area. Was that a pentagram?

Nicole hesitated for a minute. She washed out her hair and began to condition it. "Yes. They do." After washing her hair ad body one more time, she turned off the shower head and reached for a clean towel. She wrapped the towel around her waist and stepped over towards the sink area, earning an awkward stare from Petra as she walked around shirtless and uncovered. "They are tribal markings. Representing different qualities and aspects of my life."

"What do they mean?" Nicole glanced down at her own arm for a brief moment.

"The ones on my bicep and forearm represent strength and speed. The one on my spinal cord represent flexibility." She told her.

"What about the pentagram and the wings?"

"..." Nicole went silent. What was she supposed to tell her? That the pentagram was a seal, and the wings represented that she was a half breed demon that contained angel blood? She avoided further conversation by shutting down. She glanced out of the side of her eyes towards Petra for a moment, clearly shooting her a look that informed Petra not to ask her any more questions about her tattoos. Petra murmured an apology under her breath.

"So how do you like it here so far?" She asked after a minute of awkward silent, changing the subject to a lighter topic.

Nicole shrugged. "I could live without the raging midget, but it's okay."

Petra gave a light laugh. "Levi isn't so bad. He grows on you." She giggled a little bit more, her cheeks lightly flushing as she thought about her captain.

Nicole paused and glanced at the girl next to her. Did she like Levi? "Ew." She rolled her eyes in disgust. Human infatuations were disgusting and pointless.

Petra looked at Nicole and tilted her head slightly in confusion. "What?"

Nicole shook her head. "Nothing."

Nicole reached for the clothes she brought with her and quickly dressed herself. She picked up her towel and attempted to dry her hair. After little success, she gave up and threw the towel in the nearby hamper before walking out of the room.

The blonde demoness made her way down the hall, only stopping when she reached the main room of the building. Her glance fell upon the three other men that were part of Levi's squad. She recalled overhearing their names a few times. There was Eld, the blonde man who she seemed to be second in command of the squad, there was Gunther, the darker haired, darker skinned member of the group who kept pretty quiet, and then there was the class clown, Oluo. She wasn't particularly fond of Oluo, do to the fact that he constantly tried imitating Levi. One raging midget was enough.

She nodded her head in acknowledgement to them. Eld offered her a half smile. "Good morning. Are you joining us today?"

She grumbled a bit, "Unfortunately." Eld and Gunther gave a polite smile and a small laugh.

"Don't worry, we will go easy on you." Oluo commented with a smug grin.

Nicole's eyebrow twitched and she glared at him. How insulting. "Whatever." She had to bite her tongue and refrain from saying something too harsh.

Petra came out from the hall way a few moments after Nicole's arrival and patiently waited for the rest of them to stop conversing. Eld glanced over at her, nodding a good morning to her just as he did to Nicole. "Everyone ready?" Nicole's grumble of protest could be barely heard over the positive answers the rest of the squad gave. Today was going to suck.

oOoOoOoOo

Watching them was hilarious. They had decided to work on hand-to-hand combat today. It was one of the most amusing things Nicole had ever seen. They weren't bad, for humans, but it was still a laughable sight to see for a demon.

Nicole had managed to keep out of the sparing so far. She had no interest in getting involved with anything they did. "Alright Nicole, you are up." Eld told her, calling her over to the center of the training grounds.

Nicole grumbled in protest. "Do I have to?" She complained.

"Yes. Captain Levi wants us to train you so that you can pick up some fighting techniques and skills." She did her best to refrain from snorting at that sentence. "You will be training with Oluo as your opponent." She perked up at that last statement. She wouldn't mind kicking his ass...

She forced herself up off of the ground into a standing position. She sauntered over to the center of the training ground, standing a few feet in front of Oluo. He gave her a smug grin, muttering something about 'going easy on her'. "Okay Nicole, so you are going to-" Eld was cut short when Nicole threw a kick at Oluo. The entire squad gasped, shocked out how quick she was.

Oluo noticed the movement just in time. He managed to duck, barely avoiding her attack. Her shin grazed the top of his head. He quickly reached out, trying to grab her leg to stop her from throwing any more kicks at him, bit her other leg already was in motion before he had the chance to grasp it. He leg connected with his jaw, hitting him with such a great amount of force that it threw him to the ground. She was so scrawny in stature that he had never imagined she could have such a powerful kick. "Shit!" He breathed out, reaching up to grasp his face. He glanced up at her for a moment with wide eyes, shocked that she was so quick and strong. He quickly forced himself back to his feet and continued to spar with her.

The squad was so shocked by her ability to fight that they had not noticed that their captain approached them. Levi looked at Eld, noticing the awe-struck look on his face. Curious as to what had his squad so startled, he turned to watch the fight. He got there just in time to witness the small blonde girl connect another hit. She kicked Oluo directly in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to tumble to the ground once again. "Alright, alright! You win!" Oluo raised his hands in surrender.

Nicole wore a smug grin on her face. Of course she would win. She always won. Levi glared at her. She was too overly confident after just one victory. He had to admit, her fighting style was impressive, but she hadn't yet earned the right to gloat. Levi made his way over to the center of the training ground, standing directly in front of Nicole. Oluo quickly scurried off of the training ground, realizing what his captain was about to do.

"May I help you?" Nicole asked with an edgy tone. Levi never replied, but rather threw a kick at her. She had not expected for him to come out and hit her like that. His leg smacked into her stomach, catching her off guard and sending her flying backwards into a near by tree. "_Fuck!_" She gasped out, reaching up to clutch her stomach.

She barely had any time to think before he charged at her again. Slightly more prepared, she managed to dodge and block a couple of his attacks. She was startled by his speed. She had never seen a human who could move so quickly and hit so effectively. She was in mid process of blocking an attack when he quickly shifted his stance and changed his target. She was prepared to protect her face, so he quickly lowered his attack and hit her in the abdomen area again, knocking her backwards.

Nicole fell to the ground with a loud thud. Before she knew it, Levi was on top of her, pinning her down. His palm pressed against her sternum, holding her in place and threatening to cause severe injury if she didn't show submission. There was a moment of silence, the squad was staring with wide eyes. Seeing their captain in action was always amazing.

Nicole stared up at Levi with a shocked expression. Her eyes met his in an intense stare. She had been caught off guard. She suddenly found a new respect for this human boy. It sent chills up her spine. This was... kind of hot. But she couldn't let him win.

She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Before he could react, she yanked him down, capturing his lips with hers. There were several gasps heard among the squad. Levi immediately tensed at the intimate contact. She broke the kiss a few seconds later and gazed into his steel grey eyes. She could see it on his face. He was confused, slightly aroused, and angry all together. Perfect. Before he could react, she swept her legs inwards, using her legs to separate them and kick him straight in the stomach. He was forced off of her, he skidded backwards a few feet.

Nicole quickly jumped to her feet and tackled him, knocking him to the ground and pinning him. She straddled his chest with her thighs and grabbed him by the neck. Her claw like nails flexed a bit as she held him down. She leaned in so that she could whisper in his ear, "Don't underestimate me" before getting up and leaving the scene.


	6. My Companions

Chapter Six: My Companions

"_And that day they were reminded, they were at the very bottom of the foodchain." _

Nicole had an early start the next morning. She woke up before sunrise feeling completely rejuvenated. The first thing she did that morning was make her way to the washroom so that she could shower. She was a bit surprised to find that Levi was already up. He looked like he had just gotten out of the shower.

Nicole's attentive eyes glanced over his toned body. She had to admit that he was cute- for a human. Her curious feline eyes lingered on his well-toned chest, slowly wandering down to his perfect abs. A devilish smirk crept onto her lips when she spotted a purplish bruise that covered a good portion of his stomach area. It satisfied her on a whole new level to see evidence of her victory.

"Nice bruise you got there." Nicole's steps were so quiet that Levi hadn't even noticed her until she made her remark about his wound. Once he finished drying his hair, he turned to glare at her, silently telling her to shut up. His hateful expression only filled her with more joy. She happily walked over to the nearest shower head and turned it on after stripping down.

Levi blinked a few times, not completely used to women walking around naked and without shame. Even Petra was too shy to do that, which is why she always waited for the shower room to be vacant before using it. He couldn't help but to stare at her while she cleaned herself. It was surprising to see how petite she really was. She carried herself in such a way that it made her look much stronger and menacing than she really was. But right now, in her naked form, Levi could see just how tiny of a frame she really had. She was even slimmer than him in most areas. She was curvy in all of the right places, but even with her curves she was still so small.

His eyes studied the black tattoos that covered a large portion of her body. The abstract designs and crazy patterns that marked her arm and back suited her. The tattoos added to her whole 'badass' style.

Nicole stretched while under the warm water, letting out a pleased sigh. Levi was going to turn away, but he noticed something that caused him to do a double-take. She had no bruises on her body. As he recalled, he had landed several hits during their sparring match the other day. There was no way possible for her not to have some form of injury, and yet here she was, unscathed. Her porcelain flesh was as flawless as ever.

Nicole finished washing out the conditioner from her hair. She had caught Levi staring at her multiple times while she showered. She peered at him from the corner of her eyes while picking up her towel and wrapping it around her body, covering her from her chest to her mid thigh. This fucker. He actually thought he had a chance, didn't he? How absurd.

Levi tensed slightly when Nicole approached him. She was staring him down, and he found it difficult to look away. She stopped when her body was only a few inches directly in front of him. Her cat-like eyes glimmered in the dim lighting as she gazed up at him. Her bright red lips were puckered in such a way that he was almost positive that she was going to steal another kiss. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Why was he nervous? And who the hell did she think she was? It was bad enough that she made a fool out of him in front of his squad already. He wanted nothing to do with her. She needed to learn to keep her distance.

But those lips… They were so kissable. He remembered how soft they were against his and it almost made him shiver. For a brief moment, he considered letting this slide. They were alone, no one ever had to know about this. His head leaned in slightly. He wanted to kiss her, and he hated that he wanted such a thing from her.

Right before their lips could connect, her face went from a passionate, dazzled expression to a more aggressive expression. "_Stop_ staring at me, otherwise I am going to break your scrawny little neck." Her voice somehow managed to sound so sweet even while threatening him. His eyes widened a bit in surprised. Where the hell did that come from?

There was a hint of a smirk tuck at the corner of her lips. That little bitch. She was just trying to make a fool out of him again. He took a step back and made a sharp turn on his heels, immediately leaving the room. Nicole watched in amusement. Playing with humans was fun.

oOoOoOo

About an hour had passed before everyone else began to finally wake up. She was sitting in the dining room, waiting for all of them to arrive. They slowly arrived, one by one, preparing for a hard day of training with a "delicious" breakfast. Nicole watched all of them in mild disgust, rejecting the food offered to her. She had learned her lesson the first time.

"You really should eat Nicole, you are going to get sick if you don't eat!" Petra exclaimed, taking a spoonful of her oatmeal. Ha. How cute. They actually thought that demons could get sick.

"I'll survive." If anything was going to make her sick, it was that damn food. Petra wanted to argue, but Levi shot her a look that told her to just drop it. If the idiot didn't want to eat, then let her starve. No point in wasting food on that spoiled little brat. Nicole quietly watched as they finished their meals and washed their dishes before walking out the door. They left, leaving Levi and Nicole alone. There was an awkward moment of silence between the two.

Nicole rested her elbows on the table top and laced her fingers together so that she could rest her chin on her hands. A small grin tugged at her crimson lips. She needed some sort of entertainment today. Maybe she could mess with some humans. Levi took a sip of his tea and glanced up at her. "Today I expect you to-"

The moment she began to hear a command come out of his mouth, she hopped up to her feet and blurted out "I already have plans!" before taking off out the door. Levi continued to stare at where she sat just a minute ago, his eye twitching in annoyance. He was going to strangle her.

oOoOoOo

Of course she didn't actually have plans, but the idea of him ordering her around irritated her. So she did the only thing she could think of and took off running after his squad. She easily caught up with them and demanded that they let her tag along. So they did. However this time she was not able to participate in their training, because they were practicing their skills on fake wooden titans. Nicole stood off in the distance, carefully watching as they sliced at the back of the necks of these fake creatures. What the hell were they training to fight against?

She cringed when she heard one of the blades that Oluo was using snap. Did this humans not know how to properly use a sword? She gave a slight roll of her eyes. Of course they didn't. She heard Oluo swear under his breath, clearly irritated that another one of his blades had snapped. "You're doing it wrong." Nicole stated, looking upwards at him while he stood on a thick tree branch above her. He glanced down at her, not previously noticing that she had followed them. He gave her a slight glare. She had already shamed him enough. "You are putting too much force into your swings. A good blade doesn't need all of that excess pressure in order to cut. You are only dulling your sword."

Back home it was practically a requirement to learn how to use a variety of different weapons. Swords were one of the most widely used weapons on her homeland, so that was one of the first weapons she learned how to use. She could immediately tell that he was applying too much pressure from the first swing.

He dropped the blades he currently had and pulled out a new pair. He looked silently reluctant, but he decided to follow her advice. To his surprise, what she said turned out to be true. His blades lasted much longer and were much more effective when he reduced the amount of force that he used. Nicole continued to observe them, offering bits and pieces of advice when she saw something that could use improvement. After a couple hours of intense training, the squad decided to take a lunch break.

Nicole sat with them, denying the food as usual, but keeping them company anyways. They had brought along small packed lunches and sat in a grassy area to eat. Nicole sat next to Petra with her legs crossed. She placed her palms on the ground and leaned backwards so that she could look up at the sky; it was bright and cloudy out today.

"So Nicole," She heard Eld speak up, "I am curious, did you ever go through the recruit training for soldiers?"

She shifted her gaze from the sky to the blonde haired man. "Hm? Oh. No." It seemed like an odd question at first.

He tilted his head and stared at her with curiosity. "Where did you learn to fight from then?"

"My father." It seemed obvious to her. Shouldn't all fathers teach their children how to fend for themselves?

"Was he a soldier or something?" Oluo butted in.

There was a small glimmer of admiration in Nicole's eyes when she thought of her father. "Yeah… Something like that." Her father, Vincent Knight, was not just a great warrior or soldier. He was _the_ greatest warrior. He was strong, intelligent and fearless. Everyone knew who he was- the Devil, the King of all demons. He was universally feared and respected by all. He was everything she wanted to be.

They all noticed the sudden change in her demeanor. It was obvious that her father meant a lot to her, but knowing her tendencies to shut down or become aggressive when she was asked too many questions, they decided to refrain from asking too much at once and let her be.

oOoOoOo

They continued to train for a little while longer. Once they were done, they all retired to their base for the night, eating dinner and preparing for bed. Nicole found herself laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling above her and thinking over the day's events. They weren't all so bad. They were pretty useless in most cases, but she could see potential.

There was a small creak as someone opened her bedroom door. She didn't bother looking over at who entered her room. She could already tell that it was Levi. "What is it?" Her voice was a lot less harsh than usual.

"Petra told me about you...assisting them during practice." Levi stated.

"Oh."

There was an awkward silence in the room. Nicole heard him mutter something under his breath. She immediately perked up, repositioning herself in a sitting position. "I'm sorry, what was that?" She asked. She could have sworn that he had just mumbled to her that she had done a good job.

It was obvious from the look on his face that it pained him to say it. "Good...job…" He repeated, but barely any louder than before. It made him sick to his stomach to compliment this brat.

"I'm sorry, one more time?" Now she was just messing with him. He glared at her. The moment was clearly ruined. He rolled his eyes and turned to leave. She was such a bitch. But she was growing on him…

A small smile tugged at her lips. Not a smirk, not a grin, but a genuine smile. She kind of liked having him praise her. When that realization hit her, her smile immediately fell into a hardened frown and she glared at the doorway where he had stood just a moment ago. She was acting like a pet, constantly seeking her master's approval. It disgusted her. She threw herself back onto her bed and glared up at the ceiling. Once again she found hatred for this place and these people…

oOoOoOo

The next morning had started off strange. Nicole woke up with an unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't place her finger on it, but she could sense that something was wrong. She joined the squad in the dining room and noticed that none of them seemed to be affected by it. Maybe she was just worrying about nothing. She tried to shake off the nervous feeling, but she couldn't do it.

"Nicole?" She heard one of them call out her name for the third time. It took her awhile to snap out of her daze.

He eyes picked up from the table top and she looked up at the several concerned eyes staring at her. "Huh?"

"Are you alright? You're bleeding…" Petra murmured, her wide brown eyes focused on Nicole's hands.

"What?" Nicole glanced down at her hands that rested on the table. They were right. She had been so focused on her thoughts that she failed to notice that she had been clenching her hands so tightly that her sharpened nails punctured the palms of her hands. She unclenched her hands and flinched as the stinging feeling finally set in. "Ouch…" She winched.

"Are you okay?" Petra asked again. Everyone was staring at her with a mixture of curiosity and concern, including Levi (though his expression didn't show it).

"Yeah… I just… I can't shake off this bad feeling." She told them in a low voice. Her eyes continued to stare at her bloodied hands. The crimson liquid puddled in the center of her palm.

"What bad feeling?" Someone asked, but she was so distracted that she couldn't tell who it was that asked.

"I don't know… I just… I can feel something isn't right…" What was this ominous feeling in the air? "Maybe I'm just sick… I think I should just lay down…" She began to take her stand. The moment she stood from her chair, she could feel her stomach drop. It was as if everything moved in slow motion- she could hear her heart beat drumming in her ears, goosebumps formed on her arms and the hair stood up on the back of her neck. Without a doubt, there was something terribly wrong.

In the far distance, there was a sudden thunderous noise. A noise so loud that it caused all of the soldiers and Nicole jump. The ground shook, and the building rattled. She could tell that wherever the noise came from was far away, but that didn't make it any less startling. That noise was a noise of pure destruction… That noise was a noise that would lead to chaos.

_**That sound was the noise of the Rose Wall being broken and coming crashing down. **_


	7. Panic Attack

Chapter Seven: Panic Attack

"_Feeling paranoid, True Enemy or False Friend?_

_Anxiety's attacking me and my air is getting thin…"_

_-Megadeth (Sweating Bullets)_

_What in the hell was going on?_ Levi and his squad had immediately jumped up out of their chairs and prepared for battle. Nicole's heart was hammering in her chest. She wasn't sure what to expect… This energy she felt, it was not demonic or spiritual, but she still recognized it as a threat. Her blood ran cold the moment Levi ushered her out of the building and she saw everyone on the outside screaming and running for safety. Multiple people had stumbled into her and the soldiers that accompanied her, nearly knocking Nicole over several times.

She had never seen so many people panicking all at once like this. What were they running from? She turned her head towards the opposite direction of where the people were running and she felt her heart skip a beat. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the Colossal Titan as it smashed an area where the soldiers had kept multiple cannons. This giant skinless creature was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It sent an unsettling chill down her spine. Was this thing a demon? She tried searching again for any signs of demonic energy. There wasn't so much as a trace of demon energy. How could this be?

"Nicole, let's go!" Levi commanded, grabbing her bicep and giving her a harsh tug. She had been so distracted that she hardly noticed his yelling, over the surrounding commotion. She could see a soldier in the distance try attacking the Titan, but the moment that his blades should have connected, the Titan had just disappeared. Nicole finally noticed Levi dragging her forward. She was reluctant to peel her eyes off of the spot where the Titan had just stood. Was she hallucinating? Was this all a bad dream? Human's didn't have problems like this. Humans didn't live in a world with beasts. The only beasts they ever experienced were the few demons that decided to come up to their world and pester them. But this… This was unreal.

Once she managed to relieve herself of the initial shock, she quickly followed after Levi. He was trying to lead her to safety. She did not typically like this man, but she had a gut feeling that she could trust him. He would keep her safe while she was still weakened, and she knew from her sparring match with him that he had the ability to do so. Still, even with his protection, she realized how vulnerable she currently was. She felt like an idiot now. She thought the human world would have been safer than her homeland. She had been terribly wrong.

Being the strong and well adapted soldier that he was, Levi did not have the same paralyzing shock that she did. He was prepared to fight the moment he heard the wall come tumbling down. He remembered Erwin's commands, to watch over her, and he surely couldn't do that if she were dead. His only option was to get her to safety before getting anywhere near the Titans. He led her to the entrance to the inner wall and forced her passed the gate, demanding that the soldiers let her have immediate access. Knowing the wrath of Levi, they complied.

Nicole paused when she felt Levi let go of her arm. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see him taking his leave. "Wait!" She panicked, her voice faltered in strength, "You cannot be serious. You cannot go out there!" She reached out to grip his sleeve and gave a strong tug, trying to prevent him from leaving.

Levi stopped in order to turn and look back at her. His face was even more serious than usual. "It's my job to protect these people." He told her a monotoned voice. Before she could reply, he jerked his arm away from her and disappeared among the crowd.

"Levi!" She shouted his name, trying to call him back to her. "Levi!" There was no use in calling out to him, he was already gone. She could feel her heart hammering inside of her chest again. She was so confused. What was happening?

"Mommy!" A little brown haired girl cried out. Nicole's eyes quickly darted towards where the voice came from. She saw a tiny little girl carrying a teddy bear run out of the gates, back into the Titan infested area. "Mommy, mommy, where are you?" None of the soldiers even blinked an eye as they watched the kid run back out there.

"Hey, kid, wait!" She called out, trying to shove her way passed the overpopulated area. She stumble out from the crowd and didn't hesitate to chase after the child. She was surprised how far the child got by the time she made it passed all of the people. The child was already a few blocks away from the open gate. Nicole sprinted towards her, planning on snatching the child up and running back to the gate.

"Close the gate!" She heard a man shout from behind her. Her eyes widened in shock and she turned just in time to see the gate shutting behind her. Why would they…

A sudden chill ran up her spine when she felt the ground shake beneath her. It felt as if there was an earthquake that followed the rhythm of evenly paced footsteps. Her panicked eyes shot to over to the corner of the building that was between herself and the little girl. A three meter Titan stepped out from behind the cornered. Nicole skidded to a halt in mid run. She muscles froze on the spot and she found herself unable to move. What the hell was this thing? The giant stopped for a moment and turned its head so that it could get a clear view of Nicole.

She immediately braced herself, prepared to either fight or flee if need be. The Titan continued to stare at her for a moment, almost as if it was trying to determine what Nicole was. After deciding that Nicole clearly was not human, it turned away from her and continued after the little girl. The humanoid beast reached out to grab the child in a crushing grip.

Nicole snapped out of her frozen state the moment she heard the child start screaming. She witnessed at the beast started raising the human child to its mouth. Was it...going to eat her? With that sudden realization, Nicole leapt over towards the Titan, sprinting as quickly as she could while managing to grab a discarded blade off of the ground. She got to the Titan just in time to slice the back of its ankles, severing its tendons and temporarily disabling it. The beast immediately collapsed to the ground as its leg gave out beneath it. Nicole sprinted around it, darting towards its hand that held the little girl captive. She jabbed the sword directly into the Titan's hand and used it as leverage to pry its hand open so that she could remove the girl from its clutches.

The blade has snapped from the excess force, but she had managed to snatch the girl from the Titan's grip. She threw the crying child over her shoulder and made a run for it. She was running like a mad woman, only throwing a glance over her shoulder once to check on whether the Titan was still incapacitated or not. Her feline eyes widened when she saw the Titan already recovered and standing back on its feet so that it could chase after them. This thing… It healed faster than a typical demon. "Fuck!" She cursed under her breath, continuing to make a mad dash for it.

She wasn't sure where to go. They had already closed the gates behind her, practically leaving her and the child for dead. Humans were so useless. So she continued to run forward. Towards the infested area. She had no other option. All she could really do was avoid the Titans to the best of her ability. The beast that pursued her tried to pounce on Nicole and the girl. Nicole barely managed to dodge the deadly attack and stumble out of the way.

Nearly tripping over her own feet, she slowed for a moment while making a sharp turn around the building. She stuttered in her stride when she saw another Titan waiting for them right around the corner. She skidded to a halt and was about to bolt back the other way, but the original Titan that was chasing them was right behind her.

They were done for. That realization hit her hard. She let the child out of her grip and positioned herself in a battle stance. The girl immediately hid behind Nicole and gripped on tightly to one of her legs. Trying to fight them was useless. She knew that. In this state, with this seal on her, she was practically defenseless. The only thing she could do, was run. That angered her. She didn't want to have to run. She didn't want to be afraid.

The Titans both reached out for them. The child clenched her teary eyes such and clung more tightly to Nicole's leg. Time seemed to move agonizingly slow at that moment. Her demon senses amplified everything at that moment. She could hear the pitter-patter of the child's heart. She could hear the screams of everyone in the distance. She could smell the coppery scent of blood in the air. The human world had truly become a battlefield.

Right before the Titan could reach her, Nicole spotted a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye. She focused on the object that darted through the air, aiming for the nape of the Titan's neck.

_Levi?_

Levi twirled around, using his blades to slice open the Titan's neck, ultimately killing the beast in one sweep. The Titan behind her was almost simultaneously slayen by some of the other soldiers in Levi's squad. Nicole's eyes fixated on Levi as she watched him land a few feet in front of her. Blood splattered in the air and sprayed all over the ground and the nearby buildings. It was surely a sight to see. This human who she despised so much had saved her. It both made her blood boil and made her strangely attracted to him at the same time.

Levi marched right over to her, putting his blades away and grabbing her by the collar of her shirt. He jerked her towards him and glared at her with his cold grey eyes. "You were supposed to stay put." He seethed, his voice dropping to a lethal tone.

"I-" She went to argue with him, but she noticed a sudden change in his stance. He hesitantly let go of her collar, his gaze was fixated on something else. He was staring at the child that peered around Nicole, still clinging to her leg. The child trembled, obviously startled beyond all belief.

Did she run from safety in order to try rescuing this child? She did not seem like someone who would be noble enough to do so. But from the way that the child was clinging to Nicole for protection, he was positive that that's what happened. It was slightly refreshing to know that she had a potentially good side. Regardless, he still thought she was an idiot for risking her life rather than demanding for a soldier to help this child. However he knew how cowardly some of the military police could be.

Nicole was slightly confused by his sudden change, but she definitely appreciated not having him scold her at this very moment. "Captain! Is everyone alright?" She heard Petra call out in a concerned voice. For a brief moment, her demon side made itself known. With her demon side being so attracted to him after he slaughtered the creature that was a threat to her, she found herself becoming slightly territorial over him. She wedged her way under his arm and rested one of her hands on his chest. To any normal person, it would have just looked like she was trying to use him as a form of comfort. But the deadly glare she shot at the approaching squad members made it known that she wasn't just using him in order to calm herself down.

Unsure on what to do as she cuddled up to him, he decided to rest his hand on her waist and allow her to snuggle up to him. "Come on, let's get you two back to safety." He stared down her for a moment and watched as she glared at his squad. All he could think at that moment was the simple question: _What the hell..._


	8. The Cat's Curiosity Killed the Titan

Chapter Eight: Half-Breed (A Cat's Curiosity Killed the Titan)

"_There is always a Queen behind every great King."_

It was almost disturbing how quickly her opinion and attitude seemed to change towards him. After slaying all of the Titans within a two mile radius of where he was, Levi decided he would personally take Nicole back and this time make sure she stays in the safe area. He expected her to immediately snap out of whatever phase she was going through and reject him again as usual, but this time was a little different. She would not let go of him. She kept clinging to his arm or to his side. She would wedge herself under his arm and tuck her head under his chin. Then she would continuously glare at anyone who bothered to approach them. She became ridiculously territorial after he had saved her.

He didn't realize how infatuated she currently was. After he came to her rescue and she saw just how powerful he was, her demon side immediately recognized him as the alpha. Deciding that he was currently the alpha, she instantly gained a whole new attraction to him. Demons were highly attracted to strength and power, so she could not help herself. There was a part in the back of her mind that hated how she was acting, but that thought kept getting pushed down and ignored. Sometimes being a half-breed was exhausting.

She gazed up at him with dazzled eyes. She just wanted to attach herself to him and never let go. She wanted to smother him in kisses and claim him as _her _alpha male. It was pathetic. A demon should never acknowledge a human as a superior…

He had taken her and the child back over the inner walls so that they would be safe from the intruding Titans. Levi immediately shot a deathly glare towards the soldiers who closed the gate and left them for dead. He had half a mind to kick their asses, but he was currently unable to with Nicole latching herself onto him. So he decided he would find them later, and deal with it then.

"Levi, take a look at this!" Another soldier commented. Noticing a crowd had gathered in a certain area, Levi found himself curiously looking to see what they were so focused on. There was a crowd of soldiers circling three young cadets, with cannons and guns pointing towards them. The soldiers were noticeably frightened of one of the boys in particular.

"What the hell is going on?" Levi demanded to know, watching the events from a distance with Nicole and his squad.

"Apparently that boy came out of a Titan…" Someone offered an explanation.

Levi's eyes widened a little in shock, he concentrated even more so as the events in front of hi unfolded. He strained his ears in order to try picking up everything that they were saying. He could make out a soldier asking the boy whether he was "Human or Titan", and whether he was an "Enemy or Friend". Levi's eyes fixated on the three teenagers. They didn't look harmful. They were very young, and they seemed very confused and startled.

Despite the brown haired boy replying that he was in fact human, the soldiers chose not to believe him. Levi could feel Nicole tense and grip on his shirt when they prepared to fire at the trio. "Why...why would they attack their own kind?" She could sense it from here, that brown haired boy was different. Her eyes zeroed in on him and observed every small detail. He was so young, and he had some of the most innocent, wide green eyes that she had ever seen. He didn't look any different, but she could sense a difference in his energy.

The instant that the cannons were fired, she watched as the boy pulled his hand to his mouth and bit down hard enough to draw blood. There was a sudden burst of smoke, clouding everyone's vision for a few minutes. It made Nicole's heart throb and ache to see these people turning on their own kind. Being denied and hunted down because your own kind couldn't identify what exactly you were was a subject that hit too close to home. Being the half breed that she was, no full blooded demons respected her, and several even wanted her dead. Despite being superior to most of them.

It shocked her and the rest of the soldiers when the smoke cleared and they saw a half formed Titan around the trio, protecting them from the blast. It made Nicole's heart ache to see the situation that he was in. "Levi… Do something." She insisted, gently tugging on the sleeve of his shirt.

He gave her a bizarre look, staring at her as if she had grown a second head. "Do _what?_"

"Save him," She begged, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

He looked slightly taken back by her request. "He's a Titan."

"He's a human _boy."_ She argued, her voice straining to emphasize the fact that he was still a young boy. Levi went quiet, his eyes scrutinizing her, trying to decipher why she was suddenly so concerned about this unknown boys safety. When he didn't reply, Nicole became a lot more depressed, seeing the soldier's reloading the cannons and preparing to fire the cannons once more despite the compelling argument given by one of the trio's members. "_It's your job to protect these people!"_She hissed out at him, reciting his earlier words.

He couldn't reply to that. On a certain level, he knew she was right. But this boy was different. They didn't know what he was. He could have been a serious threat to humanity. He did not really know. It was better to be safe rather than sorry. They stared at eachother for a moment, her mismatched eyes searching his grey ones, trying to see if there was even a hint of willingness to help that child. There wasn't. She released her hold on his shirt and backed up a few steps. "I see." She murmured.

She understood that this situation really had nothing to do with her. Under the circumstances, he was right to have doubts in trusting this boy. However, she still took it personally. Not all mixed breeds were corrupt. She gave him one last glance before turning to walk the other way. "Nicole, where are you going?" She didn't reply, she just kept walking. She could never view someone so dense and unaccepting as an alpha. He lost his appeal almost immediately.

Levi knew he didn't have time to deal with her mood swings at the moment. He grunted in annoyance and decided to let her wander off for now. At least she was in a safe area. He would find her later, after things calmed down.

Nicole kept to herself for the new few hours, absentmindedly wandering around. She wasn't sure if she was hurt by his response or just angry. Maybe it was a combination of both. She could sense that she was being unreasonable, but that did not change her feelings towards the topic nonetheless. Everything was so confusing in this world. She missed the times when the human world was a simple place, filled with nothing but idiotic humans. (She surely never imagined herself saying that).

She never heard the cannons go off, so she assumed that the boy was still alive. Maybe he managed to flee. Maybe someone decided to save him after all. She didn't know. She stopped paying attention after Levi denied her request. If he was going to die, she did not want to witness it. His death was not something she wanted to be apart of.

When had the human world gone to Hell? Nicole stopped for a moment to take in the scenery. There were so many people crowding the area. The inner walls were overwhelmed with so many new people entering the area. She could hear people crying in terror, and people screaming and calling out for their loved ones. This was the worst part of any war. The chaos and havoc that tore apart the citizens and the community. Demons were attracted to power, and they were attracted to a certain amount of chaos. But not being a full blooded demon made her more sympathetic towards the grieving people who had to deal with all the consequences of a war. She was not soulless like so many of her kind were.

Her saddened eyes paused on an elderly couple for a moment as they cried over the recent death of their only born son. She typically hated humankind for their ignorance, but this made her pity them rather than hate them. Watching them suffer gave her mixed emotions and made it so much harder for her to loath them the way she usually did. She wanted to help them, but yet she knew in her current state, she couldn't. All that she would do is get in the way. That thought made her blood boil.

There eventually was a rumor that the soldiers had managed to seal and reclaim the wall with the help of a rogue Titan. There was also talk about the gates reopening so that some medics could recover the bodies and search for any signs of life. That quickly caught Nicole's attention. She didn't want to be here any longer. She wanted to get away from these people. All of these humans were like an infectious disease.

She decided to that the best option for her was to sneak out when the medics left and find a way to escape. She recalled how earlier that day, none of the Titans had bothered attacking her until she provoked them. She contemplated the possibility of finding a way out of the walls and living among the Titan creatures until she had time to fully recover and return home. It was a longshot, but she would rather be anywhere other than here.

Sneaking out was easy. No one had even noticed her among the medics. She carefully slipped passed the gates, accompanied by the medics and volunteers who wanted to help gather the corpses. Some part of her wanted to make a run for it, but she knew she had to do this right. Levi was somewhere out there, and she couldn't risk being spotted by him or any of his squad. So she kept to herself and closely followed a group of people, attempting to blend in with them so that she wouldn't raise any attention.

It was saddening to watch them clean up after the Titans. Most of the bodies that they found were disfigured and bitten in half or missing limbs. It made her cringe when she overheard a medic explaining to a volunteer how the Titans did not have a digestive track, and once their stomachs were full, they would vomit to empty themselves so that they could continue eating people. They were such despicable creatures.

She waited until the perfect opportunity to sneak off into an alleyway so that she could find a way out from these walls. She crept around the buildings, careful to not bring any attention to herself. She had made it about half a mile away from them before something caught her attention.

There was a building that was partially collapsed, the stone pillars crushed the legs of a three meter Titan, keeping the Titan trapped inside of the building. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she stared towards the hideous creature. She could hear it struggling underneath the rubble, trying to get itself lose so that it could prey on more people.

Her hypersensitive picked up another noise coming from the same area. She could hear a high pitched sob coming from within the broken down building. A look of concern washed over her face; she cautiously approached the building. The doorway had fallen in on itself, but she managed to find another opening. She carefully climbed through the opening, her feline eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the building.

What she saw made her stomach lurch. There was a boy inside, his legs pinned and broken. He was bleeding profusely from an open wound around his abdomen area. Right behind him, was that Titan. This Titan wasn't trying to just escape from under the pillar to get to the outside world, it was trying to reach for the little boy. His enormous hands scraped against the earth beneath them as it attempted to crawl towards the child.

With his last few breaths, Nicole could hear the child call out for his mother. She recognized that voice. She hesitantly approached the child so that she could get a better look at his face. The moment she saw his intense green eyes, her assumption was confirmed. This was that little boy who had stolen the potato. The same little boy who showed her such kindness after she came to his rescue. She glanced over his body, getting a better view of his injuries. She could tell that he wasn't going to make it. He had a few minutes left to live at best.

She wasn't sure why the sight bothered her so much. The little boy looked up at her, knowing that there was someone there, but not being able to tell who it is in the darkness. "Mom?" It hurt her heart to hear him cry out for his mother, who was probably already dead. She got down on one knee and reached out to caress the child's cheek. "Mommy I am so scared…" He trembled beneath her touch. His pale skin was so clammy, his black hair stuck to his forehead do to all of the sweat. He was sure that this person touching his face was his mother. She was so warm and affectionate, just like his mother always was.

"Shh, it's okay… I am here with you now." She whispered to him. His eyes widened when he realized who she was. He immediately recalled that voice to belong to the blonde haired woman that saved him. Tears formed in his eyes, he reached up to touch her hand with his. She was not his mother, but she was the only comfort that he currently had.

Nicole silently watched as the boys expression dulled into a lifeless state. She could hear his final breath as it left his lungs. His grasp on her hand went limp; his hand slipped from hers and fell to the ground. Witnessing this child die made something inside of her snap.

She had seen death before, several times in her life. She was a demon, they dealt with death and war on a daily basis. But she had not seen such a pointless death before. There was no reason for this child to die. He was so young and innocent. What was this war even about? From what she could tell, the Titans only murdered people for fun. They didn't need to eat, they didn't need to kill…

Nicole stared at the boy for a few minutes longer until she finally worked up the strength to look up at the Titan that had caused this mess. "You don't even understand what you are doing, do you?" She asked the Titan, watching as it continued to mindlessly struggle against the force keeping it pinned. Of course it couldn't reply. It was nothing more than a brainless, soulless beast.

These creatures needed to die. She could feel a whole new level of hatred bubble up inside of her. She hated these things more than anything. More than her brother, more than any enemy she had ever fought, more that any human she had ever encountered… Never in her hundreds of years of living had she ever pointlessly killed another person. No matter what species, she had never killed something without reason. That was how things should be. There should never be a war or battle without a genuine reason.

Her attentive eyes caught a glimpse of something shimmering in the background. Her pupils narrowed into slits as she zeroed in on what struck her attention. It was some tools and supplies. She took a quick look around them. They were in a shed. She took a her stand before quietly walking towards the metallic objects. She easily avoided the Titan's failing arms, managing to make her way over to the equipment. The first thing she reached for was a long silver chain rope.

She stepped onto the Titan's back, applying excess force with each one of her steps. After a few heavy-footed strides, she was standing on the base of the creature's back. "I hate you," She told it, knowing that he did not understand her, which ultimately only made her hate him more. This thing would never understand what it did. It would never feel the need to repent. There was no redemption for this beast. She swung the chain over the Titan's head so that it would wrap around its neck. "_I really fucking hate you…_" Her voice dropped into a feral growl. Her eyes narrowed and she bared her fangs. She pressed the heel of her foot against the back of the Titan's neck as she gave the chain a powerful, unrelenting tug. She yanked on the chain so hard that it tore right through the beast's neck and severed its head from its body.

Blood splattered everywhere. The crimson liquid temporarily stained her clothing and the walls before it began to evaporate along with the rest of the flesh of the Titan. She quietly observed as the beast beneath her faded away. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and the seal located on her collarbone was burning with protest. Her demon side burned with a bloodthirsty rage. She released the chains from her grasp, letting them fall to the ground with a 'clang'. She stepped off of the dissolving pile of flesh and towards the little boy. With her inhuman strength, she easily lifted the object that was pinning the child's body to the ground and tossed it to the side. She leaned down so that she could pick up the boy and carry him to the outside.

This child deserved to be found by the medics. He deserved to be buried. He deserved much more than what he had gotten, but things hadn't turned out that way. This was the very least she could do for him. She set his body down on the street way, reached up to his face and carefully closed his eyes. She kept watching his bloodied and bruised form.

At that moment she decided she would stay. She would stay and make sure that all of these Titans died,_ even if it killed her. _


	9. Reward

Chapter Nine: "Reward"

"_She loves me, she loves me not…"_

"Put me down you stubborn little midget from Hell!" Nicole shouted, throwing a tantrum as Levi easily carried her over his shoulder. She was so small and light, it was like carrying a sack of potatoes. A sack of struggling, loud and obnoxious potatoes that was… Nicole slammed her tiny fists into his back while continuing to demand him to release her. He kept carrying her, rolling his eyes while he listened to her complain.

He had found her at the most inconvenient of times. She had burned most of her energy while killing that Titan, so now she felt incredibly useless and weak. So weak that she could hardly even put up a decent fight against him. She had decided to stay and help the humans, but she didn't necessarily want to stay with him. Not after what he had done. "Ughhhh!" She groaned, finally giving up. She went limp and continued to mumble a string of curse words. _Why do these things always happen to me…_

She finally felt him come to a stop, and his grip on her loosened just a bit. She tried to take this opportunity to escape, but in the process of doing so she managed to trip herself and fall backwards onto the ground. She whined a bit, sitting up and rubbing her lower back. Levi just stared down at her with an unimpressed look. He never said a word, but his expression clearly let her know that he thought she was a dumbass.

Nicole took a moment to take in her surroundings. They were on a porch, to the entrance of some large concrete building. It was a secluded building, in the middle of the woods, far away from any of the villages. She didn't understand why he had brought her here, but she didn't care to ask. She hopped back onto her feet and glared at him. "Leave me alone, I want nothing to do with you-" She was cut off in mid sentence when the door behind her opened.

"Captian Levi, I finished cleaning the upstairs…" The holder to the adolescent male voice drifted off when his eyes fell upon Nicole. "Oh, uhm, hi." Nicole paused and slowly turned her head so that she could view who was speaking to her. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw the Titan boy that everyone was previously trying to kill.

"..." Nicole looked him up and down. He was healthy, unscathed, and he overall seemed to have been treated rather well. She looked over at Levi for a second, then back at the boy. _He had listened to her…_ She wasn't sure why that made her so happy. She had to use all of her mental strength to refrain from smiling brightly and openly thanking him.

"Nicole, this is Eren. Eren, this is Nicole." Levi introduced them, carefully watching Nicole's reaction. He could tell that she was extremely pleased that Eren was here. Finally she showed some appreciation. "Now get to work."

Before she knew it, Levi had shoved some cleaning supplies into her hands. Nicole blinked, looked down at the cleaning supplies and gave a small snort before tossing them back to him. "Nice try, short stuff." Levi's eye twitched in annoyance as he watched Nicole turn away from him and wander inside the building to explore. She was hopeless.

Nicole trotted inside, looking around with curious eyes. This place was so much bigger than the last. She sprinted up the stairs and wandered down the halls to look inside each of the rooms. She was excited to find that they all had their own individual bathrooms in this place.

"Oi, Eren, you call this clean? Go clean it again." She heard Levi snap at Eren in the distance. He really was a clean freak. Nicole peered around the doorway to the room that Eren was currently in. She watched as Eren began to sanitize everything in the room.

She continued to watch him, curious as to why he was so obedient. She immediately assumed that Levi had probably intimidated him into submission. "He's an angry little one, isn't he?" She commented, startling Eren because he had not noticed her leaning by the doorframe.

He looked up at her, his vibrant green eyes were so wide and innocent. He immediately blushed when he saw her and dropped his gaze. "Yeah." His voice was quiet, almost as if he was frightened that if he openly agreed with her, Levi would hear him and kick his ass.

Nicole stared at him for a few extra moments. He was adorably innocent. She both admired and adored innocence. It was hard to believe that this boy could turn into one of those beasts. "So you, can turn into one of those things, huh?" Her voice wasn't judgemental or frightened like most peoples were when they spoke about that fact that he could take the form of a Titan.

"Yeah…" He wasn't exactly proud of that fact.

"That's pretty awesome." She chimed in, catching him off guard. It was obvious that she was bad at making small talk. He stopped cleaning for a moment to stare at her. There was an awkward moment of silence between them. Socializing was not her strong point. Eren watched as her mouth opened, then shut again a moment after. She almost immediately after turned and left the room. That was...odd.

The one useful thing her father never taught her was how to hold a conversation longer than five seconds when there wasn't any sarcasm involved. She wanted to try to communicate with this kid though. She felt like they might have a lot in common. She decided she would attempt talking to him again later, and refrain from embarrassing herself now.

oOoOoOo

There wasn't much for Nicole to do. She refused to help clean. She eventually had to leave the building to get some fresh air, the smell from the cleaning chemicals was too overwhelming for her sensitive nose. She waited for the house to finish airing out before returning inside.

Levi had escorted her to her new bedroom as nighttime approached. The room was a little bigger than the last one- with a bigger closet space, and a personal bathroom attached. She was glad to have her own space. He left her to retire to his own room, so that he could shower for the night and go to bed. He had important things to do the next day, he needed to get some rest.

Nicole decided to do the same. She shut her door behind her, picked a loose pair of pants and a plain shirt out of the wardrobe provided for her and made her way to the shower. After turning on the faucet and stepping inside, she let out a sigh of relieve. The water was surprisingly warm, soothing her aching muscles as it caressed her ivory skin. As much as she enjoyed having Levi's little curious eyes wander all over her body while she showered, she liked this privacy better.

Her mind paused on that thought. A small shiver travelled up her spine while she thought of him. He had actually listened to her. He took Eren in just like she wanted. She strangely felt so thankful towards him for that fact. She respected him again, maybe even a little more than she did before. A small blush crept its way up to her face.

Nicole didn't know how to feel about Levi. A part of her once again recognized him as an alpha male. Another part of her was disgusted by the fact that she was attracted to a human. Regardless to being human, she had to admit her was both cute and strong. He moved more quickly than even some demons. Even in her weakened state, she never imagined a human to get the best of her. Him being a challenge angered her, and satisfied her at the same time.

Female demons wanted to be dominated. They wanted a male to prove themselves worthy. Levi surely had accomplished that when he killed the Titans to save her, and took in Eren just like she desired. She wanted to thank him, but giving thanks was not something that came easy to her.

She shut off the shower and reached out for a nearby towel so that she could dry off. No matter how hard she tried to get him off of her mind, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Before she knew it. she was already dressed and sneaking inside of his room. It was almost as if her body had a mind of its own, she couldn't help but to follow her primal instincts, and those instincts led her to him.

The moment she entered his room, she could hear his shower still running. A nagging voice in the back of her head insisted that she should turn around, but she couldn't find the will to. Approximately two minutes after she took a seat on his bed, she heard the shower turn off. Before she knew it, Levi stepped out of the bathroom, with only a pair of pants on and a towel in his hands to dry his hair. Nicole's curious eyes wandered up and down his body, a small shudder travelled down her spine. She needed to control herself. She only came here to attempt expressing gratitude.

Nicole's eyes snapped upwards to meet Levi's gaze once she realized how fixated her gaze had become on his torso area. "Uhh, hey." She internally cringed when she heard the awkwardness in her tone.

He didn't respond, but rather he gaze her a questioning stare. He was half contemplating scolding her for entering his room without permission, but another part of him was genuinely curious of what she wanted. After waiting another moment for her to continue, and her failing to speak, he turned towards his closet and began to search for a comfortable shirt to wear to bed. Nicole found herself silently hoping that he wouldn't find a shirt to wear. She enjoyed the view.

"You listened to me." She stated, her voice sounded somewhat teasing. He froze for a moment. Did she really come in here to give him shit?

She stood from her spot on the bed, slowly approaching him from behind. He was shocked to feel her body press against his back. Her chin rested on his shoulder, and her arms wrapped around his slender waist. Levi immediately tensed at the contact. He never knew what to expect from her. He hesitantly turned around, forcing her to loosen her grip so that he could turn to face her. For a minute, Nicole thought that he might actually deny her.

He could instantly tell that this embrace was genuine when he looked into her eyes. The usual smugness that she carried herself with was not currently there. She was trying to thank him, but like him, she was too prideful to openly say that. So instead she initiated physical contact to express gratitude. He decided that he liked that.

Before Nicole knew it, Levi had snatched both of her wrists in his hands and shoved her backwards against a wall. A small gasp escaped her lips right before his lips came crashing down on hers. Her eyes widened for a moment in shock, but she quickly snapped out of it. Her eyes fell shut; her lips moved against his.

He continued to fervently kiss her, releasing her wrists so that he could reach down to grasp her thighs and pull them upwards to wrap them around his own hips. Nicole nipped his lips with her fangs, gradually becoming more excited as he dominated her. She wrapped her arms around his slender neck, pulling him closer to her. Levi easily carried her towards his bed so that he could lay her down. There intense makeout was broken for a moment as he towered over her.

He held himself up with his arms, his cold grey eyes stared down at her. He waited like that, seeing whether she wanted to continue or not. She gazed up at him with a dazed expression on her face. She was absolutely beautiful. There was a light blush sprinkled over her cheeks, and her uniquely colored eyes were half lidded as she stared up at him. Realizing that he was waiting for permission, she reached up with one hand, cupping his jaw line so that she could bring him in for another kiss. Somewhere in the back of her head, she knew that this was a bad decision. But she couldn't help herself. _This was what she wanted._ Levi reached for the waistline of her pants. His fingers curled around it so that he could easily pull them off.

_Knock knock!_ Both of them froze when they heard the sudden knocking at the bedroom door. Reality came crashing down on them. Nicole's eyes snapped open and she had a horrified look on her face. _'What the hell am I doing!'_ She placed her hands on his chest and gave a firm push against him, letting him know that she was done.

She could tell that Levi was frustrated. He had a light blush on his cheeks, and an incredibly annoyed look on his face. "Captain?" They heard Eren's voice call out as he knocked again. Nicole easily slipped out from under Levi. She threw the door open and quickly made a break for it. She kept her eyes glued to the ground, refusing to let Eren see the blush that colored her face.

Eren glanced towards her, confused as to why she was in the captain's room, and confused on her reaction to him being there. He watched as she disappeared down the hall. She was walking so quickly, and he noticed that she seemed slightly embarrassed.

Levi stood up, grabbed a shirt to wear and threw it on. He took a second to compose himself before walking towards the doorway. He noticed Eren staring at Nicole as she walked away, and he found that it annoyed him. He tapped his foot in annoyance, which quickly caught Eren's attention. Eren's eyes snapped back towards Levi.

He noticed that Levi had a similar expression to Nicole. He looked flustered and greatly annoyed. "Oh, Captain Levi-!" Eren began, but the moment he spoke Levi replied with one word:

"_**What.**_"

oOoOoOo


	10. Sonny & Bean

Chapter Ten: Sonny &amp; Bean

"_A wise man once advised to_

_keep your friends close_

_and your enemies closer."_

Things had gotten a little awkward between Nicole and Levi. Most of the awkwardness came from her, but it was still there nonetheless. Levi liked what happened. He would probably do it again if they were given another moment alone. Nicole tried to reject what happened. She felt slightly embarrassed by the fact that she did indeed like it. It was something she would prefer to keep a secret. Luckily for her, Levi was not one to talk.

The universe seemed to be working against her lately. She had been walking towards her room, when Petra pestered her into joining the rest of the squad for dinner. Petra was understandably concerned about the fact that Nicole had not eaten for an extended period of time. Nicole refused at first, but Petra kept bugging her until Nicole finally gave in just to shut her up. The moment she entered the dining room, she immediately regretted her decision.

Of course the only seat available was the one to the left of Levi. Would it be too obvious if she turned around and walked right out of the door? She begrudgingly took the seat next to him, her eyes remained on the ground during the entire process of her sitting down. Even without looking up, she could tell that Levi was staring at her.

Levi sipped at his tea, watching Nicole out of the corner of his eyes. He could practically sense the awkwardness radiating off of her. She did her best to avoid all forms of eye contact, and he didn't know whether he should feel insulted by her actions or not. He decided to leave it be at the moment, but he continued to observe her every movement.

She strangely felt nervous. It almost felt as if he was silently judging her every move. She secretly hoped that Petra would hurry up with the food so that she could shovel it down her throat and escape this hell. She didn't want to be around Levi; she didn't want to be reminded of the intense moment they had shared the previous night. She felt a light blush begin to creep up on her, and she dropped her head, trying to hide her face with her bangs. However, her actions didn't go unnoticed by Levi.

A sudden sound caught Nicole's attention, she looked up just in time to see Petra placing a bowl and cup in front of her. She eyeballed the meal with an unimpressed expression. Was this a joke? Before her was a bowl of vegetable stew that looked even less appetizing than the gruel that they had tried feeding her beforehand. The room was relatively quiet, the only noticeable noises were made by spoons tapping against the bowls.

It took awhile for Nicole to actually work up the courage to eat. Everyone around her was intently staring at her, silently pressuring her into consuming the meal that was given to her. She reluctantly brought a spoonful to her mouth. Her nose wrinkled in disgust, and she had to force herself to swallow it. It baffled her that these humans could eat this without feeling sick to their stomachs. She immediately reached for the cup in front of her after choking down her first bite. She desperately drank the liquid, trying to wash down the repulsive taste in her mouth.

The moment that the drink had hit her tongue, her eyes widened. She was pleasantly surprised by the creamy milk. She took three big gulps, practically inhaling the drink. When she pulled the cup away from her mouth, she did a doubletake to make sure that there was nothing left in the cup. Much to her dismay, there was nothing there, not even a drop.

Levi watched closely, finding her reaction to be slightly ridiculous. Was she really that pleased with her milk? It was such a simple thing… But it was the first thing he actually saw her take interest in. He decided to take a mental note of that for the future. He watched as Nicole slowly glanced around the table, her curious eyes finally resided on the cup of milk that had been offered to Levi. Nicole stared at the cup for a minute, then glanced up at him, then back down at the cup.

She wanted his drink, but she was too stubborn to ask. Instead, she was trying to come up with some elaborate plan to steal it. Her devious thoughts were interrupted when she heard the ceramic cup scraping against the tabletop. Nicole quietly watched as Levi used one hand to push the milk over towards her, offering it to her. He didn't say a word, he merely sat there, still sipping his tea while staring her down.

She didn't even bother asking questions. She hastily snatched the cup in her hands and happily drank from it. A pleased smile played at her lips, and a slight purr emitted from her throat. She couldn't be more satisfied at this very moment. She was so rapt up her in own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed the giggles and chuckles coming from the group around her. Petra and the others all found her reaction to be kind of cute. She had an almost childish innocence when it came to certain things.

After sometime had passed, the situation took a slightly more serious tone. The squad talked amongst each other about an upcoming mission, and about how they needed to prove Eren's worth before a certain time. Nicole was only half paying attention, not as interested in the conversation as the rest of them. She only started paying attention once she heard the words: "Her meddling could kill you, Eren."

Both Eren and Nicole became more alert at those words. Nicole's sensitive ears suddenly picked up the faint noise of foot steps approaching the door to the room. There was a loud banging sound as someone clumsily walked into the door from the outside. Petra immediately got up out of her seat to unlock the door and let a woman inside. Nicole's eyes narrowed as she glanced over the woman. She was about average height, with brown eyes and hair, and a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. She didn't appear to be a threat, so Nicole shrugged off the initial discomfort from the brown haired woman's sudden appearance.

"Good evening, people of squad Levi!" The woman greeted, raising one hand to give a faint wave. "How do you like your new castle home?" She inquired enthusiastically.

Levi continued to stare straight forward, hardly acknowledging the woman's presence. "That didn't take long." He stated with a certain bluntness that clearly told everyone that he wasn't thrilled to see the brown haired woman.

"Wild horses couldn't keep me away!" She started towards Eren.

"Squad Leader Hange…" Eren murmured in recognition.

"Thanks for waiting, Eren!" Hange took her place standing next to Eren. Nicole watched from the corner of her eyes, not entirely interested in what the woman had to say. "At the moment, I'm in charge of the experiments on two Titans we captured alive. For tomorrow's experiment, I'd like your cooperation, Eren. I came to get permission."

"Did you say...experiment?" Eren had a slight trace of hesitance in Eren's voice. "What would my role be?" He was almost too scared to ask.

Nicole found herself suddenly giving Hange a full-hearted glare. She wanted to use him in an experiment? How typical of humans to abuse others just because of minor differences.

"Well now, the most exciting role, of course!" Hange exclaimed with great excitement. Her enthusiasm disturbed Nicole. What the hell was wrong with this woman? Nicole took a quick glance at Levi and could plainly see that he was thinking the same exact thing.

"About that… I can't give you permission by myself. I don't have authority over what I can do." Eren told her.

Hange paused for a minute, blinked a few times as she processed what Eren told her. She then turned her head towards Levi and placed her hands on her hips, her voice suddenly held a more serious tone to it. "Levi! What is Eren's schedule tomorrow?"

Levi stared blankly in Hange's direction. He looked highly annoyed already. "Cleaning the yard."

"Good, then. It's set!" She turned back towards Eren and reached down to grasp one of his hands in both of hers and kneel so that she was at eye level with him. "Eren! See you tomorrow!"

"Uh...Okay." Eren replied, looking startled. He didn't know what to expect, and that bothered him slightly, but he didn't say anything about it. Instead he asked as many questions as he could so that he could further prepare himself. "But what sort of experiments are you doing on the Titans?"

"Hmm?" Hange looked very satisfied by his question.

"You know… the Titan experiments."

"Hey, stop it. Don't ask." Oluo snapped at Eren in a hushed tone, trying to give him a fair warning of the mistake he was walking right into.

"Yeah... I knew it. I thought I saw curiosity in your eyes." The moment that those words left Hange's lips, everyone began to get up to take their leave. They all knew how she could ramble on forever, and they didn't want to be stuck listening to one of her rants about how 'incredible' the Titan's physiological make up was.

Both Eren and Nicole paused to look towards the squad as they exited the room. Levi was the last to leave. He lingered at the door for a moment, holding it open and shooting Nicole a look that clearly said '_you will regret staying and listening to this, come with me'._ Nicole took the hint, she trusted him enough to be right about this. She stood up from her chair and quickly retreated along with the rest of the squad. Nicole took a moment to glance back at Eren before Levi completely shut the door. Poor boy, he was starting to realize his mistake as Hange began talking.

Nicole wasn't entirely sure what to do now. She glanced around to see the rest of the squad retiring to their rooms for the night, so she decided that she might as well do the same. As she began to move forward, she got a slightly nervous feeling. There he was, watching her again. She could feel his eyes on her back, and it made her feel so anxious.

He couldn't help himself though. He discovered that he liked to see her come, but he _loved _to see her go. She had a certain sway to her hips that would lure any man in. He knew that she noticed him staring, because she began to pick up her pace. But before she could get too far, he easily caught up with her and snatched one of her wrists in his hands. He yanked her backwards, causing her back to smack into his chest.

Nicole's eyes widened in shock, and she immediately froze. Her body became rigid; it took all of her effort just to turn her head so that she could look back at him. Levi motioned with his head towards his room before letting her go. After releasing his hold on her, he stepped around her and made his way to the door that led to his room. He opened the door and stepped into his bedroom, glancing towards Nicole and giving her a suggestive nod of his head once more before letting the door shut behind him.

_No._ She was not falling for that again. She was not falling for that trap. Yet despite mentally declaring that she wouldn't be fooled into accompanying him for the night, she found that her feet were carrying her towards his room. _Damn these demon instincts of mine…_ she internally cursed at herself. She couldn't help it, she liked his foul attitude. She liked his cruel ways. She liked the way he carried himself with such authority…

Before she knew it, she was already inside of his room with him. She wasn't even sure how it happened, but she was pinned against a wall, her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms held above her head in no time. He kissed her so roughly that she felt dizzy.

She mentally cursed herself for allowing this to happen again, but she couldn't bring herself to actually stop it. She could not deny that he made a fine alpha. She parted her lips slightly when he bit down on her bottom lip to let out a soft moan. He released his hold on her wrists, letting her arms come down so that she could wrap them around his neck. Levi broke their kiss to take a moment to stare into her vibrant eyes.

She wanted him, and she wanted him _bad._ There was a light blush on her cheeks, and she stared up at him with a longing expression. Her crimson lips parted slightly so that she could whisper a hushed _'please, Levi'._ That was all he really wanted to hear from her. He carried her over to his bed and gently rested her down on the mattress. She angled herself so that she could kiss him, but he pulled away from her.

His denial halted her actions. He easily crawled over her and laid on the other side of the mattress. He laid on his side, turned away from her. "Goodnight, Nicole."

_What the fuck just happened?_ She blinked a few times. Was she hallucinating? Did some human just fucking deny her?

Luckily Levi was turned away from Nicole so that she couldn't see the slight amusement on his face. He wanted to teach her a lesson. He had been annoyed by her attitude early, when she pretended like she didn't want him. It was a complete bullshit act, and he knew it. He just wanted to make sure that she was aware of it too. And he was never going to let her forget it.

It inflated his ego slightly. The fact that he had the power to leave her breathless and pleading for more made him internally smirk to himself. He had the full intention to use that ability to his advantage plenty of more times in the nearby future. But he was done for the night, because he was pretty sure his point had been made.

Nicole was seething next to him. It hurt her pride slightly to be denied. But the part that infuriated her the most was that she could practically sense the amusement radiating off of him. He did this to her on purpose. She glared at the back of his head for a minute before turning away. She crossed her arms over her chest and let out a frustrated huff. She would get him back for this, eventually.

oOoOoOo

Nicole had eventually simmer down (after about an hour or so). She eventually heard the even breaths that indicated that Levi was sleeping. He had rolled over onto his back in his sleep, and unconsciously wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer. She did little to resist. She reluctantly allowed him to embrace her, she gradually relaxed and snuggled up to him. She rested her head on his chest so that she could listen to the slow pace of his heart. It was one of the most soothing sounds she had ever heard.

She decided that she didn't hate him when he was sleeping. He was actually quite nice when sleeping…

Unlike him, she was never able to sleep peacefully that night. Thanks to her keen sense of hearing, she was kept up all night by Hange's lecture. She had unintentionally been eavesdropping on their entire conversation. Nicole discovered that what Hange had to say wasn't completely useless. There was a lot that she learned. She learned about how Titan's were killed by having the nape of their neck cut, and how they needed the sunlight to survive. She also picked up a few other details, like how the Titan's were disportionately light in weight.

Nicole listened in throughout the entire night, all the way until sunrise. She thought about everything she learned from Hange explaining the results of her Titan experiments. She found herself slightly intrigued, and wondering how exactly the Titans had come into existence. Hange didn't seem to know either, so it really made her wonder… Were they an experiment gone wrong? Were they a form of demon spawn? Were they just a new species created by God just to cause chaos and wreak havoc on Earth? There was so much that was left unexplained about these creatures…

Nicole was brought out of her thoughts when she felt Levi shift a bit. He was finally coming to. She hadn't realized that it was already sunrise. Levi opened his eyes, his grip around Nicole's waist tightened. She propped herself up on one arm so that she could look down at him.

Levi had to blink a few times to clear his vision. He looked up at her as she leaned over his half-asleep form. It shocked him a bit to wake up and find her still in bed with him. He was almost certain that she would have abandoned him after what he did last night . "Goodmorning." She murmured, her voice barely audible. He grunted in reply, not yet awake enough to properly respond.

Before he knew it, Nicole leaned down so that she could place a gentle kiss on his lips. Despite her pulling away rather quickly, there was a sweetness that lingered. Levi hesitated to reply to her gesture. She was never this nice. His instincts told him that she was baiting him in. However, her kisses were far too addicting to allow the receiver of them to think rationally. He sat up in his bed, reached out to place his hand behind her head and pull her back towards him for another kiss. His kisses were a lot more harsh than hers, but she liked it.

Both of them simultaneously froze when they heard a hurried set of footsteps pass down the hallway. There was a loud bang as a door to the dining room was thrown open and a soldier yelled "Is Squad Leader Hange here?" Immediately knowing that something was wrong, both Levi and Nicole hopped out of bed. She exited the room to find out what was going on, and he quickly threw on a new pair of clothes before following after her. "The subjects…" They could hear the man continue, "The two Titans were killed!" Hange gasped before jumping to her feet and rushing out of the building. Levi and Eren joined her, and out of sheer curiosity, so did Nicole.

The soldiers all hopped onto their horses and made their way to where the subjects were. Nicole hesitated, but Levi grabbed her hand and pulled her up onto his horse with her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tightly while her mind tried to process what was going on.

Why would someone kill the test subjects? It made no sense to kill them if they could possibly benefit humankind… Unless there was someone out there who wanted to prevent the soldiers from discovering anything further about these particular Titans.

Before she knew it, they had arrived. Everyone quickly jumped off of their horses so that they could observe the events before them. Hange ran over to the dissolving bodies of the Titans and dropped to her knees. "Sonny! Bean!" She frantically cried, tears streamed down her face.

Nicole stayed right next to Levi, never once leaving his side. They both closely examined everything around them. There was chatter among the soldiers that this had to be the doing of someone with a 3D maneuver device. Nicole paused when she picked up a particular smell. There was a scent that lingered in the air that disturbed her. It was very similar to Eren's but slightly different. Her eyes widened as realization struck her. There were more out there like Eren…

She glanced up at Levi, noticing a certain look in his eyes. He must have come to a similar conclusion. "What happened here…?" Eren murmured, his deep green eyes wide with shock.

Levi remained as emotionless as ever. "Let's go, the rest is for the military police."

Nicole felt like there should have been more investigation, but she didn't argue. It wasn't really her place to argue. She shouldn't have even been there in the first place. She followed Levi back towards the horse, but she keep her ears tuned to listen to all the chatter and rumors amongst the crowd.

"What do you see?" She glanced over her shoulder to see the man she recognized as Erwin speaking to Eren. "Who do you think the enemy is?" Eren stared at Erwin in surprise. Erwin pulled away and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, that was a strange question."

All of the higher ups suspected the same thing as she did. Nicole continued to follow Levi to his horse. She paused before getting back on with him. Her feline eyes fixated on the still steaming corpses of the Titans. She had a bad feeling about all of this...

oOoOoOo

_**Author's Note: Sorry about such a late update, I recently started school and things have been crazy. **_

_**Anyways, I promise to get back to writing this now. Hopefully I can start updating at least weekly. **_

_**Quick question for my readers, do you guys want me to follow the Attack On Titan story line, or do you want me to incorporate my own version and use more of Nicole's family members in the future? Let me know, that way I can plan out these next few chapters accordingly. **_

_**Thank you!**_


	11. Monster (One in the Same)

Chapter Eleven: Monsters (One in the Same)

"_They think I'm crazy, but they don't know the feeling_

_They're all around me, circling like vultures_

_They want to break me and wash away my colors."_

_-Starset (My Demons)_

After a few days, the chaotic situation involving the two mysteriously killed Titan subjects had died down. Things returned to normal relatively quickly. Hange planned out her next experiment that she wanted to use Eren for. She came up with a plan to have him turn into a Titan in a well so that she could contain him regardless to whether he can control himself or not.

Nicole watched from a comfortable distance as Hange and Levi had Eren climb down into the well structure. She disliked the idea of them using Eren as a lab rat, but there wasn't much she could do at this point. Eren seemed pretty willing, and Hange reassured them that she would not kill Eren. Nicole figured that that was the best they were going to get in this situation, so she sat back and bit her tongue for now.

After Hange briefly explained the idea of the experiment to Eren, her and Levi backed up so that they were a safe distance from the well. They prepared a flare and fired it as soon as they were ready to begin. Nicole waited, her eyes attentively staring in Eren's direction. There was an intense silence as everyone waited for Eren's transformation- but it never came.

"Maybe he didn't see the flare?" Hange suggested, staring at the well with confusion.

Levi closely watched for any sign of Eren turning. It seemed unlikely that he didn't see the flare. "Something feels wrong." He told her before making his way to the well.

The instant that they made it to the opening, both of their faces paled and their eyes widened. Their expressions were rather alarming to Nicole. Before she knew it, she was on her feet and headed for them in a hurried sprint. She skidded to a halt, nearly crashing into the stone structure of the well. She grabbed the rim for balance and leaned over the opening to see what was inside. Her feline pupils dilated as her eyes adjusted to see beyond the darkness. What she saw caused her breath to hitch in her throat.

There Eren was, covered in bite marks and his own blood. He looked up at them with a horrified expression. "I… I can't turn into a Titan…" He sounded confused and slightly panicked.

That poor kid… Nicole couldn't help but to feel a pang of sympathy for him. He was bleeding profusely from his wounds, and they weren't showing any signs of healing. "Get him out." There was a lethal undertone to Nicole's command. Her voice clearly said _'get him out or I will kill you'_. Levi agreed with Nicole's demands, and ordered Hange to get Eren out immediately.

They threw a rope ladder down so that Eren could climb back up. Nicole carefully watched as Eren struggled to climb back to the surface. The moment that he was close enough for her to reach him, she reached down and practically lifted him right out of the well. Her unusual strength was slightly alarming, but Eren didn't say anything about it. She always was around the elite soldiers, and he figured they wouldn't keep her around if she wasn't at least strong in some way.

"Common, let's get you cleaned up." Nicole told him after he settled on his feet. He was a little wobbly, so Nicole kept a close eye on him as she urged him forward back towards the castle.

Hange attempted to speak, but Nicole shot her a glare that immediately shut her up. Hange didn't feel like the experiment was quite over, but Nicole seemed determined to finish it now. Nicole continued to walk with Eren towards the building. Hange blinked a few times and glanced at Levi. He didn't bother saying anything either; if there was one thing he learned about Nicole, it was that you would never win if she didn't want you to.

"Well I see who really is in charge around here…" Hange commented before hurriedly heading towards the castle right behind the two. Levi shot her a dirty look, but he didn't argue. On some levels, it was true, and there was no denying that.

Nicole immediately went for the medic supplies as soon as they were inside. She lead Eren to her room and sat him down on her bed before taking out the medical supplies. "Roll up your sleeves." She ordered while rummaging through the box of supplies. There was plenty of disinfectants and gauze for her to use.

"You really don't have to-"

"Roll. Up. Your. Sleeves." Nicole bit out. Eren flinched at the tone of her voice and immediately did as she commanded. She was small, but very scary…

After all of his wounds were fully visible, Nicole got to work. She used a clean wet rag to wipe away the crusted blood, then went over the injuries with bite marks with some rubbing alcohol. "This will sting a little bit." She informed him right before pouring a little bit of rubbing alcohol on one of the wounds. He grimaced at the stinging sensation, but he managed to remain silent.

After disinfecting the injuries, she pulled out a bundle of gauze and began wrapping his forearms and hands. She expertly wrapped his arms, not too tight, and not too loose- but just right. "You're good at this." Eren stated, trying to start a light conversation. A light blush tinted his cheeks. Even when she was doing something nice, she was very intimidating.

"I have a lot of experience." She replied bluntly. Her siblings always fought as children, and there had been many injuries that needed tending. Eren didn't know what else to say, so he dropped his head and watched her tend to his wounds. "So what is it like," Nicole asked him, keeping her eyes focused on her work.

Eren perked up a little at her question. "What do you mean?"

"What is it like to turn into a Titan?" She rephrased. She was curious as to whether it was similar to turning into a secondary demon form. All demons had a more powerful, monstrous form. Though most demons did not depend on self mutilation to trigger a transformation.

Eren paused for a moment and contemplated his answer. "I… I don't really remember much about either of my transformations," He replied honestly, "But from what I do recall, it was really… peaceful. Almost like I get so lost in thought… nothing else matters."

His description caught her by surprise. From her own personal experience, all of her demon transformations were triggered by rage. Once she turned, there was no peaceful thoughts or calming moments… Everything was just blurred together by anger, and she could only focus on one thing: killing her enemies.

It made sense to her that Eren couldn't change into his Titan form on command for an experiment. There was no truly goal. It was not a fight-or-flight situation. Eren needed proper motivation, he needed a genuine reason to change. He needed anger.

Nicole finished wrapping his wounds, and began packing the left over supplies back into their case. Eren watched her intently. "You're actually pretty nice, aren't you Nicole?"

Nicole snorted at his observation. "No." Her answer was short and blunt; it caught him by surprise. "But I care for my own. That's the way my father taught me."

There was a small creaking noise in the background as Levi and Hange quietly opened the door to Nicole's room. Levi hesitated in the doorway. His grey eyes fixated on the two individuals before him. There was a slight hint of jealousy in the back of his mind. He wasn't entirely sure why he was irritated with seeing the two of them so close, but knowing that Nicole invited Eren into her room and allowed him to rest on her bed annoyed him beyond all belief. He didn't want that brat to get any ideas…

Nicole gave Eren a pat on the back. "You should get something to eat." She told him with a certain firmness that let him know he had no other option. Rather than arguing, Eren nodded and took his stand.

She had practically forced him out the door, but rather than following him to the dining room, she stayed next to Levi for a second. She glanced over him, reading his body language. A small smile tugged at her lips. The petty jealousy was practically radiating off of him. She wasn't sure whether to find it cute or entertaining. She decided it was a little bit of both.

Nicole waited until Hange left the area, leaving her alone with Levi. "Jealous?" She teased, giving him a suggestive smirk. Levi glared back at her. He hated that she could always pinpoint his exact emotions. Most people had difficulty understanding him and were unable to read his constant poker face, but she could see right through that. It irritated him that she had that ability, but it also was half the reason he found her to be so interesting.

"Tch." He turned on his heels and began to walk in the direction that Eren had gone. Instead of questioning him any further, Nicole kept quiet and followed him. She easily caught up to him so that she was walking by his side. Once they got outside, they joined the rest of the squad for lunch.

Levi took a seat at a picnic table and reached out for a cup of tea that Petra had waiting for him. Nicole took the seat right next to him. She stayed almost uncomfortably close in proximity, their thighs were practically pressed together. She tilted her head so that she could rest her head on his shoulder while they listened to everyone else's mindless chatter.

Such a display of affection was strange for both of them, but this was her way of reassuring him that he had no reason to be jealous. He was her current alpha figure, and he had nothing to fear. Levi glanced down at her, stared for a moment as he wondered if he should allow this much physical contact in public, but then internally shrugged and decided it couldn't do much harm.

Nicole was so content that she let out a subtle purring noise. She rubbed the top of her head against his jawline and chin as she wedged herself in closer to him. He did his best to keep his eyes forward, acting as if he wasn't too interested. It was hard to ignore her when she was so openly affectionate.

Off to the side, a couple of the squad members were occasionally stealing glances of the two "love-birds". They were surprised to see their captain allow someone to get so close. But then again, they were surprised by a lot of things Levi let Nicole get away with. This girl was really something…

Petra found herself slightly jealous. She tried not to be, but there was a part of her that thought it was unfair. Nicole always disrespected Levi, never listened to him, always got herself in trouble, and yet Levi was more tolerant with her than any of the others. There was almost no doubt in her mind that Nicole must have been sleeping with the captain. Why else would he let someone get away with having such a foul attitude? She felt slightly envious as she watched the blonde haired girl snuggle up closer to Levi. They barely even knew her… She felt like her captain was making a terrible mistake. But who was she to judge.

Nicole noticed the curious glances, but she hardly cared at the moment. She just focused on the conversation at hand between Eren and a few of the squad members. They were currently discussing the fact that Eren had failed to turn. What surprised her the most was how at ease everyone was with the fact that Eren couldn't figure out how to transform into a Titan. From what she could recall, they needed him to prove his worth in order for him to survive.

Nicole found herself suddenly glaring at Eren when she realized he was not eating the food that had been provided for him. She had told him to eat, therefor he would. Eren picked up his gaze just in time to witness her death glare. He didn't need to ask in order to understand what she was mad about. He jumped and immediately reached for his spoon. "Ouch!" He jerked at the pain from using too much force when picking up the utensil. He accidentally dropped the spoon on the grass beneath them.

Eren leaned over and reached for the spoon, but the moment that he stretched his arm as far as it could go, there was a massive explosion. Both Nicole and Levi froze when they felt the surge of energy. The rest of his squad immediately jumped from their seats and prepared to kill Eren. They all drew their swords and crouched in a fighting stance, preparing to lunge at Eren.

Levi had immediately gotten up once he squad did and placed himself between Eren and his team. Once the steam cleared from the air and the surroundings were visible once more, Nicole looked over to see Eren attached to what appeared to be a half-transformed Titan arm. She kept to herself while pondering over the question, '_Why now?_'. Out of all times to turn, why now?

"Calm down everyone," Levi ordered, keeping himself in the middle of Eren and his squad. He was doing his best to protect Eren from his own teammates, but they were too riled up to listen to reason.

Eren seemed more startled than any of them. He was gripping his attached arm with his free hand and trying to yank it free from the Titan's flesh. His eyes were wide from panic and fear of the unknown. "Captain, step away from him!" Petra shouted at him, stepping slightly closer with her swords raised at Eren.

"No, you need to step away." Levi warned her, completely prepared to fight his own squad if he had to.

"But captain, why?"

"Because I have a suspicion." Levi told them. This didn't seem right. There was more going on here than what met the eye.

Nicole continued to watch Eren with attentive eyes. He was still struggling to free himself. "Prove to us that you mean us no harm Eren!" Someone shouted. A few other voices chimed in, all urging him to prove that he was more than just a monster.

She could see Eren's panic growing, and she actually felt bad for the kid. He was just now realizing how little his teammates trusted him. He couldn't separate himself from the Titan flesh, and he wasn't sure how else to prove he wasn't trying to cause any problems. After watching the chaotic situation for a few moments, she decided to intervene. She cautiously stepped over towards Eren, reached down to grasp his stuck arm with one of her hands, and gave a forceful tug.

She was much stronger than him. Her effortless tug easily severed the bond between Eren's limb and the Titan flesh. He stumbled backwards when she let go of him and he fell onto his back. He propped himself up on his arms, blinked a few times to clear his fuzzy vision, then looked up at Nicole. This girl never failed to surprise him.

"EREN!" They all heard Hange scream in the distance with an overbearing amount of excitement. She hurriedly ran over to them, while jumping and clapping with joy. "Can I touch it?!" She asked as she placed her hands on the skinless Titan flesh. "Ahh! It's so hot without skin!" She observed, immediately tearing her hands away and shaking them back and forth as if that would relieve the pain.

Unfortunately for her, the partial Titan arm began to dissolve the moment that Nicole pulled Eren from it. Hange pouted as the flesh evaporated into steam and slowly disappeared. Her crying ceased for a brief moment when something caught her attention.

_The hand was holding a tiny little spoon._

oOoOoOo

Later that night, Hange had pulled Eren inside to talk to him about that days events. She asked him to explain what exactly triggered his partial transformation. He wasn't sure what exactly caused it, so he did a recap of everything that led up to the event. "I see." She murmured before taking out an object from her pocket.

She took out a piece of cloth that was wrapped around something. She slowly unwrapped it, revealing the spoon that was found in Eren's Titan hand. "I found this in the hand. It wasn't damaged or bent at all by the heat or force. It was placed between the index finger and thumb, like this." She told them, demonstrating how the Titan hand was holding the spoon. "I think you just needed a clear objective in order to turn."

Hange's suggestion made sense, but it still confused Eren a little. "It's hard to believe I would turn into a Titan just to pick up a spoon…" He mumbled more to himself than anyone else.

It was hard to believe. Nicole leaned against the wall in the opposite corner of the room. She watched as the attitude that everyone had towards Eren quickly changed at the realization that he had not meant to turn. It slightly annoyed Nicole. They were all so dumb… it was rather obvious beforehand that his transformation wasn't intentional.

"So it… was an accident?" One of the members spoke what they were all thinking. They all shared a certain look and gave each other a nod before reaching their hands up to their mouths. All at once, the four squad members bit down on the palm of their hands.

"Ouch!" Petra exclaimed, flinching from the pain.

"Damn that hurts," Oluo grumbled, "How the hell do you bite all the way through?"

Nicole remained in the background, staring at them with a blank expression. Humans were weird. She couldn't even begin to comprehend half of the things they said or did. Their emotions were far too complicated. He shifted her gaze and found Levi staring at her.

He gave her a look that clearly said, _"lets go"._ She complied. She nodded her head towards the door before turning and walking out of the room. Tonight was going to be fun.

oOoOoOo

_**Author's Note: I know, I'm an asshole… :D! This chapter was kind of on the low-key side, but don't worry, things will get more exciting in the next chapter. Things are about to get a lot more intense… :D**_


	12. Forever & Never

Chapter Twelve: Forever &amp; Never

"_And it took me by surprise,_

_The hatred in his eyes_

_I pushed this man as far as he could go_

_But he lacked the words to let me know."_

_-Maria Mena_

Nicole loved when Levi felt the need to assert his dominance. She loved how cruel and callous he could be. She loved how much of a demanding lover he was starting to become. It drove her completely mad with lust and desire.

The two of them were in his bed, rolling around together, fighting for dominance while in an intense makeout session. Nicole flipped Levi onto his back and straddled his waist. She leaned down to give him a passion filled kiss, her scarlet lips moved against his much paler ones in a rhythmic motion. Her elongated canine teeth nipped his bottom lips, sending a shiver down Levi's spine.

She was driving him insane. All he wanted to do was claim her as his, but she refused to let him. Any time he tried to move further, she would stop him. She had let them stripe all the way down to their undergarments, then showed a sudden disinterest in letting him go any further.

Levi reached for the edge of her panties, slowly curled his fingers around them. Before he could remove her clothing, she snatched his hands in hers and forced them down. She entwined their fingers and held his hands to prevent any more attempts to unclothe her. Her actions earned a unsatisfied groan from Levi. She was teasing him too much. He was so aroused that he couldn't think straight.

She broke their kiss and hung over him so that she could gaze into his grey eyes. She could tell that he was frustrated, and it made her smirk. She loved teasing him. She kept her lips only mere inches away. _"Something wrong?"_ She teasingly inquired before leaning down to trail kisses from his jawline to the crook of his neck.

This girl was going to be the death of him. He tried to break his hands free from her grasp, but he discovered that that would be more difficult than he originally thought. She had an iron strong grip on his hands. He grunted and finally gave up, leaning his head back in defeat and letting her have her way with him.

Her fangs scraped against the flesh of his neck, grazing against it just light enough to avoid puncturing the skin's surface. She loved him being the dominant one, but she also realized that she enjoyed his submissive side. She trailed a few more kisses back up to his jawline and eventually to his lips. She gave him a few more gentle kisses before breaking apart from him and sitting up. She remained on top of him, with his hands entangled with hers.

She pulled their hands apart and allowed him to rest his hands on her hips. He gently rubbed his palms against her smooth, ivory skin. Her skin was so soft in comparison to his calloused palms. He decided to test the waters and see just how far she would let his hands wander. He glided his hands up her waist and stomach area, until his fingers grazed against the lining of her bra. He looked up into her vibrant eyes, and he could finally see that she was done playing games.

Without a moment of hesitation, he reached around to unhook her bra. She complied, shrugging the straps off of her shoulders so that he could remove the clothing completely. The moment that the undergarment was tossed to the side, Levi easily flipped them so that he was on top again. He hovered over her, taking her beauty in.

She was so perfect. His eyes wandered over her almost completely naked form. She was so tiny, yet was thick in all the right places. She squirmed underneath him in anticipation. He hooked his fingers around the edge of her panties and quickly pulled them down to her knees. She kicked them off the rest of the way; he grasped one of her thighs and wrapped one of her legs around his waist. He leaned back down, pressing his body against hers while hungrily kissing her on the lips.

She let out a small moan. The noises she made drove him further into insanity. He bit down on her bottom lip, hard enough to draw blood. She moaned again, but louder than before. She arched her back upwards to press herself harder against him. _"Levi…" _The way she said his name in that moment satisfied him beyond all belief.

"Levi!" There was a man's voice that shouted his name from outside the room while simultaneously banging on the door. Levi froze in mid-kiss.

"_Are you fucking shitting me?"_ Levi breathed out, instantly becoming angry. Everyone was a fucking cock block. He began to pull away to find himself some clothes, but Nicole whimpered and tugged at him.

"_Don't leave me,"_ She murmured, her bright red lips puckered in a pout.

Levi halted and looked down at her. There was another bang on the door. Levi let out an annoyed sigh. "Just stay here, I'll be back." He told her, giving her another kiss on the lips before getting up from the bed and throwing his uniform back on.

He made his way to the door, paused and glanced back at her, waiting for her to be decent. Nicole covered herself with the bed sheets and snuggled into his mattress. He stared at her for another moment, longing to just crawl back in bed with her. But another noisy knock on his door intruded on his thoughts. Levi practically threw open the door and glared at the soldier standing before him.

The soldier stopped for a moment, glanced passed Levi to see the blonde woman in his bed. A look of despair almost immediately washed over his face when he realized what he just interrupted. Levi impatiently tapped his foot, bringing the soldiers attention back to him. "Well?" Levi demanded, glaring at the man before him.

"Commander Erwin Smith wants to see you."

"What for?"

"To discuss the new mission, sir."

Levi's frown deepened. This was actually serious. He glanced back at Nicole to wordlessly tell her _'I'll be back later.'_ She understood, and sulked a little. She curled up in his bed and let out a heavy sigh.

Everything always had to ruin her fun…

oOoOoOo

Levi had taken too long to return, so Nicole had fallen asleep in his bed. He returned several hours later. His mind was clustered with thoughts about the upcoming mission. A part of him dreaded the mission. He knew that on every one of their missions on the outside of the gate, their military branch suffered a great amount of caluaties. But he also knew that missions like these were necessary, and he trusted Erwin to do what was best for mankind.

He opened the door to his room and walked to the edge of his bed. Levi looked down at the blonde haired girl comfortably resting on his mattress, wrapped up in his sheets. He reached out to brush a strand of hair out of her face. She looked so peaceful…

He was glad that Erwin had not mentioned her. Levi was beginning to seriously doubt Erwin's theory of Nicole being something other than human. She was strong, and definitely different, but from what he saw, she didn't have the capability of actually fighting a Titan. There was something unique about her, but he didn't think she would ever be ready to be apart of this war. She was too fragile for such a war (or at least so he thought).

Levi's thoughts were interrupted by a gentle purring noise. He paused for a moment and looked more closely at Nicole. She unconsciously stretched out her arms. Her claw-like nails kneaded at the blankets and pillows while she purred in her sleep. _"Levi...purrrrrrr…"_ She murmured her name in his sleep, catching him by surprise.

She was dreaming about him. Despite his cold exterior, he had to admit that he found that to be cute. He took a seat on the edge of the mattress and gently nudged her shoulder. The purring came to an abrupt stop. Her eyes fluttered open a moment later as she began to come to. She blinked a few times to clear the grogginess. She rolled over so that she could get a better view of Levi.

She was surprised that she had not woken up sooner. No one was ever able to sneak up on her, even when she was sleeping. Maybe it was just because she no longer recognized him as a threat… That thought crossed her mind and bothered her a little. She never intended to let her guard down. But staring up into his eyes made her forget all about it. "What is it?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"You were calling my name in your sleep," He stated. He sounded pleasant, for once.

"Oh." Her face flushed in embarrassment. Dreaming of a human… how gross.

Her eyes still felt so heavy, it took all of her will to refrain from dozing off again. She gave a tiny yawn before scooting over in the bed and patting a spot on the mattress beside her. She was nonverbally telling him to 'get his ass in bed and cuddle her'.

He complied to her silent request. He stripped down to his boxers and prepared himself for bed before crawling underneath the sheets with her. It had been an exhausting day, and it was nice to come back for once to a warm body lying in his bed. She curled up against his form, still naked from earlier before Levi had left. "So there is some mission?" She absentmindedly asked, half asleep already.

"Yeah. A mission to go outside the walls." He replied, not caring too much for discussing work with her.

Nicole jolted right back into awareness. She was wide awake the moment he mentioned leaving the safety of the walls. "_**What?**_" Her voice darkened at the thought of him and the others purposely putting themselves in danger. "Why the hell would you do that?" She had pulled away from him so that she could sit up and stare down at him.

He hesitated. He had said something wrong? He didn't think so. "Don't worry about it, just go back to bed." He told her, wanting to avoid this conversation all together. Their mission wasn't really any of her business.

Nicole clenched her jaw in effort to refrain from snapping at him. She knew that he hadn't done anything wrong. What these humans did was up to them, not her. Regardless, she couldn't imagine what would possess them to leave the boundaries of the walls. They had seen the chaos first-handedly… They should have known how dangerous that could be.

However, she chose not to argue. Instead, she laid back down and turned away from him. "When are you leaving?"

He could tell from her voice that she was bitter. "The day after tomorrow."

Nicole felt an uncomfortable pang in her chest. She was hurting. The idea of them getting killed bothered her more than she initially thought it would. She hadn't realized the extent to which these filthy humans had grown on her. It was absolutely appalling to think about...

She was sad, but she didn't recognize the feeling of sadness, so she translated it to anger. Anger was the only thing she fully understood. She took that depression from knowing they might die and turned it into anger. She was pissed off that they were leaving her. She was pissed off that they weren't thinking of the negative consequences their deaths might have on _her_. As selfish as it made her sound, that was the only way she knew how to cope with despair.

That night might have been the very last night that she got to spend with him. She felt tears sting at her eyes. _This again?_ She did everything in her power to suppress a sob. None of this made sense to her. She was so emotionally confused. Levi meant nothing to her (or so she originally thought). He was just an attracting alpha figure, nothing else. Of course that wasn't actually true, but she wasn't mentally or emotionally ready to accept that.

"Goodnight, Levi." She mumbled, her voice nearly cracking from her emotional distress.

Levi reached out to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her back towards him, but the moment he made contact with her, she cringed and flinched away from his embrace. If this was going to be her last night seeing him, then she didn't want to get any more involved with him than she already had. Her legs curled up to her chest and she held herself in a fetal position.

Levi froze. She was really taking this personally. He didn't know what to do, so he rolled onto his side and turned to face the other way. _Everything was ruined again…_

oOoOoOo

Levi woke up the next morning in an empty, cold bed. He sat up in his bed, groggy from exhaustion. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand in attempt to clear his vision. Nicole was gone. There was a part of him that felt empty do to lack of her presence. He forced himself out of bed and prepared himself for the new day while pondering over thoughts about Nicole.

It was funny how someone he had known for such a short period of time had grown on him so quickly. He had grown more of a dependence on her than he cared to admit. She was so much like him in so many ways, yet different enough for him to admire. She pulled at the strings of his heart in a way that no one else could. She was truly something special…

Once he was done getting ready, he made his way to the dining room. He was slightly relieved to find Nicole sitting at the table with the rest of his squad. He had briefly thought that she might have pulled another one of her stupid stunts and try to run away again.

Levi took a seat next to Nicole, and mumbled a quiet "goodmorning" to her. He wasn't too surprised when she ignored his greeting. Her eyes were focused stare ahead of her, and she continued to look straight, avoiding eye contact with him. She refused to acknowledge him at that very moment.

"So Levi, are you going to debrief us on the mission?" Petra wondered from across the table.

Nicole's eyes narrowed at Petra's question. This was exactly what she was trying to avoid. Nicole took a sudden stand, causing her chair to fall backwards. Everyone in the room froze when they heard her chair come crashing down on the floor. She made a sharp turn on her heels and made her way to the door. She couldn't handle this right now, she had to get out of here. She stormed down the hall, walking as quickly as she could to the front door. She needed to escape…

Levi hurried after her, jogging slightly to catch up to her. "Nicole, where are you going?" He asked. She ignored him again, continuing to walk forward. She was only a few feet away from the front door. Levi reached out to grab one of her wrists, stopping her dead in her tracks. Before he knew what was happening, she had spun on her heel and smacked him across the face.

"Leave me the hell alone!" She yelled. She was so angry that she was having difficulty breathing. She huffed a few times, trying to catch her breath. She distantly noticed the sting in her palm from slapping him.

Levi was astounded by the fact that she had actually struck him in the face. His cheek burned from her slap. He could feel as the blood rushed to the pained area, reddening his flesh. "What the fuck is your problem?" He snapped at her.

"You're a bunch of fucking idiots, that's the problem!" She snapped back at him. He looked dumbfounded by her words. He didn't understand what she was so upset about. "Do I have to fucking spell it out for you? You're a bunch of morons, willing to go on some suicide mission and throw all of your lives away." She didn't really understand why she was so angry, but she couldn't contain her emotions any longer.

"Look, I don't expect you to understand-" Levi started, but he was cut off.

"You're right, I don't understand. I don't understand why you are all so willing to throw your lives away." She said with a bitter tone to her voice.

"Nicole, just have a little faith in my squad," He tried to reason.

She looked slightly taken back by his words. "_Faith?_ You overestimate your abilities, Levi. _I _was too much for you to handle in a fight. What makes you think that you can survive out there?" Her anger had died down, her facial expressions began to crumble. "I don't want to foolishly sit around and be here to later find out that you are all dead…" Her voice cracked as she fought a sob.

This was far too overwhelming for her. Levi looked completely baffled. He was practically frozen in his spot. He didn't know what to do or say in this situation. Nicole shut her eyes and fought back the tears. "I can't do this," She muttered under her breath. She turned back towards the door and rushed out of the castle.

"Wait-" Levi hurried after her, but by the time he reached the door, she was already gone.

oOoOoOo

It was never her intention to care. She never wanted to get involved with the humans. All she wanted to do was discover what was throwing off the balance of the universe and fix it. This was not in her job description. This emotional crap was a bunch of bullshit.

The first thing she did was sniff out the nearest body of water and make a mad dash for that location. She soon found herself at an unpopulated lake, in the center of the forest. It was a beautiful area, but she paid no attention to that. She only had one thought on her mind- and that was to return home. She had forgotten all about her resolve to stay behind and kill the Titans. She didn't care about that anymore. She was too much of a coward. She was frightened by these new emotions that crowded her mind. She was done with all of it.

The moment she was close enough to do so, she had hopped into the lake. There was a loud splash, the surface rippled as she disturbed the stillness. The water was so cold that it sent shivers down her spine, but she ignored that feeling and swam downwards towards the bottom of the lake. If she swam far enough, she would be able to pass through the barrier between this world and the next.

She kicked her legs as quickly as she could, desperately trying to make it to the other side before she changed her mind. The water distorted her vision, but she began to see a light on the other side. She began to feel like she was swimming towards a surface instead of towards the earth. She was almost to the threshold… She was almost free from that hellish place.

She stretched out her arm, almost reaching the surface to Hell. But right before she was able to cross that boundary, she felt something wrap itself around her ankle. She choked on what little air she had left in her lungs. Bubbles escaped her mouth as she gasped. The mysterious force that grabbed her by the leg yanked her back, pulling her back towards the human world. She struggled, desperately trying to escape. Her flailing arms failed to do much, and she soon found herself choking on water.

Water rushed down her throat and filled her lungs. The realization finally hit her- _she was drowning. _


	13. Unspoken (No Regrets)

Chapter Thirteen: Unspoken (Our Choice With No Regrets)

_ "Why do you always run?" The voice was strangely familiar. She could have sworn that her twin brother was there with her, but she knew that this voice was in her head. _

_ She attempted to open her eyes, but her vision remained black. Everything around her felt abnormally cold. Was she dead? It sure felt like it. Her body was so stiff that she found it impossible to move. She couldn't tell which way was up or down, it felt as though she was suspended in space, merely floating, yet sinking all at the same time. 'I don't always run.' She thought to herself after realizing she couldn't open her mouth to speak._

_ "So why are you here?" _

_ Why was she here? That was surely the question of the day, and she didn't remember the answer. There was a painful, empty feeling in her chest, reminding her of the emotional trauma she had been previously suffering. _

_ 'That's right…' She was here because she was avoiding the pain of losing those humans. She __**was**__ running away. The reality of the circumstances and situation came crashing down on her. They weren't leaving her, but rather she was abandoning them. _

_ She was different from the rest of them- she could have actually made a difference in their world. Her heart throbbed inside of her chest. Why did she always run away? "You don't belong here." Her twin brothers voice told her. His voice wasn't cruel, just factual. And he was right. She didn't belong there anymore, she belonged on Earth, with Levi, Eren and all of those annoying, worthless, yet ironically beautiful creatures called __**humans.**_

_oOoOoOo_

Levi hadn't been able to find her before he and his squad had to leave for their mission. This time she had been more serious about running away, and she clearly did not want to be found. After the failure of a mission, he was secretly praying that she would be there when he came home.

But she wasn't.

He knew that he should have been looking for her. She was his responsibility. But despite knowing that, he couldn't currently work up the will to search for her. He had failed on so many levels. His squad died, Eren nearly got killed, and Nicole was still missing. Everyone of those things were _his_ responsibility. He let everyone down.

He told Eren to never regret his decisions, but that was hard advice to follow for himself at the moment. Everything had gone wrong all at once, and it was too overwhelming to properly deal with. It was hard to think clearly in a time of such grief. He knew he couldn't have prevented what happened, but that didn't stop him from feeling like he should have been able to.

There was a part of him that was mad at her. She was supposed to be there with him. She was supposed to provide him with comfort. Another part of him felt terrible for feeling that way. She wasn't his girlfriend, she had no true obligation to him. Regardless, he wanted her to be there with him right now.

It felt like the universe was currently mocking him. Unable to take home his squad's bodies for a suitable funeral service, he had chosen to take the patches off of their uniform instead. It would never be the same as properly putting them to rest, but it was better than nothing.

Of course the outside weather was cold and dark. There were deep gray clouds hanging low in the sky, threatening to release a downpour of rain at any minute. He sarcastically thought that this weather was perfect for such an emotionally devastating time.

He had left the safety of the castle so that he could find a place to bury the patches from his squad's uniforms. He just wanted to get it over with, so that he could move on with his life. He had grabbed a shovel from the outside and aimlessly wandered around until he found a peaceful enough place to lay them to rest. After hours of wandering, he finally found a beautiful lake.

The lake was centered in the middle of the woods, surrounded by old oak trees and pine trees. The water was clear and untouched by humans. He decided that it would be the perfect place to put his squad to rest. He took his place under an old oak tree near the river bank and began to dig a hole. Each time that the shovel dug into the Earth's surface, he could feel his heart shudder with grief. No captain should have to bury his own soldiers… Not when they were so young.

He suddenly got the feeling that he was not alone. He briefly glanced up and around, confirming that there was no one else nearby, but he still couldn't shake the feeling. A bubbling noise caught his attention, forcing him to look back up at the lake's surface. His gray eyes widened at the side before him.

A familiar body floated to the surface. He immediately recognized who it was when he saw the stark white skin and strawberry blonde hair peek above the surface. _It was Nicole._ The anxiety from the situation hit him hard and fast. All he could do was think _'this cannot be real_' over and over again.

While he had been frozen with shock, the water had carried her body to the shore connecting the land and the lake. After the paralyzing anxiety attack began to simmer down, he threw down his shovel and rushed over to her broken figure. He dropped down to his knees and quickly began to try cleaning her body of the mud that had caked onto her flesh. He cupped the back of her neck and head so that he slowly lifted her cold, lifeless body from the muddy ground beneath her. "Nicole..." He choked on her name, tears swelling up in his eyes.

Levi Ackerman was not one to cry, but how could he not in a situation such as this? His squad was dead, and now so was Nicole. He may not have always liked her attitude, but she was his responsibility. They all were his responsibility, and he let them down.

There was a crackle of thunder and lightning that could be heard in the distance. The deep grey storm clouds finally gave in, letting the downpour of rain begin. Tiny droplets of rainwater began to soak Levi's uniform. He was quickly soaked to the bone, but he didn't care. He watched as the rain water cleaned Nicole's body of the mud and the dirt.

His grey eyes focused on her face. He hadn't previously realized how much she was growing on him. She could be irritating, and she was always defiant to his orders, but in a strange way, he liked that. She was a challenge, and it intrigued him. Knowing that that was gone left an empty hole in his heart. He had felt it from the day that they first met, that they could have been something more. Now the chance of ever seeing what they would become was gone. Or so that is what he thought.

What he didn't understand though, is that a demon would never die from a purely physical injury. Nicole's body suddenly sprung back to life. There was a loud gurgling noise that erupt from her throat, she spewed some of the water out from her mouth. Her eyes shot open as she gasped for air. Levi jumped at the sudden change in the status of her life. He nearly dropped her head when she started jerking back to life, but he managed to hold on tight and assist her in sitting up as she cleared the water from her lungs.

Her vibrant eyes darted around the surroundings, checking for any immediate danger. The adrenaline was rushing through her body. She could literally hear the blood rushing through her body, and she could feel her heart wildly throbbing inside of her chest. After the alarming start, she finally began to calm down. She realized that Levi was holding her still, trying to calm her down. "Levi?" Her voice was hoarse, as if she hadn't talked in weeks. "What happened?"

Levi continued to stare at her in utter shock. One moment she had been dead, and now she was thriving with as much life as she ever had. "I don't know." He managed to respond in a whisper. He was scared that if he spoke any louder, his voice would break. He couldn't begin to explain how relieved he was to see her alive. "I thought... I thought you were dead." His voice wavered in strength. His eyes met hers in an intense gaze.

She was shocked to see such a pained look on his face. He usually looked so emotionally numb, but right in this moment, she could tell that tears would be obviously streaming down his face if it wasn't for the rain. "I thought you had died on me too."

_Too?_ She wordlessly glanced over him, finally taking notice to the military uniform patches that he had in his pocket. Her keen sense of smell picked up the familiar scent of Levi's squad. It didn't take long to put everything together. They all died in the battle field, just like she said they would. There was a painful tension in her chest. She had been right. Nicole glanced back up into Levi's eyes. Seeing that anguish brought tears to her own eyes.

This was exactly why she had wanted to go home. She didn't want to be sucked in like this- but it was too late. No matter how she looked at it, she began to realize that she really did care a lot more than she initially thought. Humans were weak. Befriending them was only setting yourself up for failure and future pain. How had they weaseled their way in?

She could only imagine how devastated Levi was. Losing his entire squad... No captain should have to watch his companions die.

Nicole found herself shivering. Not because of the cold weather, but because of the aching sensation that resided in her chest. "I'm so sorry." She managed to tell him. She wished that she wasn't right. She wished that she was wrong about their abilities. She wished that they were still alive. _These damn humans were parasites._ Always leaching off of other people's emotions. Bringing down greater beings to their level...

There was a mixture of sadness and anger towards the soldiers she had befriended. She was sad that they had died, but she was also angry that they were foolish enough to overestimate their own abilities. She had given them a fair warning. She tried to save them. But no one ever listened to her.

Nicole reached up with one of her clawed hands and gently cupped Levi's cheek in her palm. Her thumb gently rubbed over his cheekbone in a soothing motion. "Everything will be okay." She promised, gazing into his eyes with the most sympathetic look she could muster. After a moment, she began to pull her hand away and tried to stand to her feet. "Common, it's pouring. We should get back, before you catch a cold-" she was cut short when his lips pressed against hers.

Her eyes widened in shock, but she quickly responded to the kiss. He was grieving, it would be wrong to deny him. Or maybe she just didn't _want_ to deny him. She pressed her bright red lips to his much paler ones, enjoying the feeling of his flesh molding to fit perfectly against hers.

He wasn't sure what had possessed him to kiss her right at that moment. But whatever it was, he knew that he would never regret it. She felt so perfect against him. Her warmth and comfort was exactly what he needed at the moment. He hesitantly broke the kiss, pulling away slowly to stare into her eyes. He could see a combination of satisfaction and confusion lingering behind her eyes.

Without another word, Levi wrapped his arms around her, putting one arm underneath her legs and the other behind her back. He easily lifted her from the ground, slightly surprised at how light she was. He thought about his squads patches that remained in his breast pocket. He would deal with those later; he wasn't ready to let go yet.

oOoOoOo

_This was never what she intended to happen._

Nicole had been relaxing in the dining area, keeping to herself while she thought about how lonely this place would be from now on. The squad was dead and she had miserably failed when trying to go back home. It would be an understatement saying that it had been a bad day. It had been a really, really bad day…

She was walking back down the hallway towards her room when she heard what she was identified as a sniffle. Her pace stuttered in mid stride; she paused for a moment by the door that she recognized as the entrance to Levi's room. Curious as to what the sound actually was, she stepped closer to the door, pressing herself against it so that she could hear things better. There was nothing but silence.

Despite the silence, she could feel that something was wrong. There was a saddening vibe coming from behind that closed door. She hesitated for a brief moment, but eventually she reached out and carefully turned the doorknob. She cracked the door open just enough to peer inside.  
On the other side of the door, there was Levi, sitting on his bed with a defeated look on his face. If Nicole had a compassionate heart, it would have ached at that moment. There was a certain look in his gray eyes that just told her that he was done. That he wanted to give up. That he decided this war was pointless, and he would never truly win. It was a hard look to witness, even for a demon.

There was something about this man. Something about him that made her want to fix what was wrong. She couldn't understand it herself, but she knew that she never wanted to see that look on his face. Her mind was telling her to ignore it, and continue to her room. This was none of her business, she was just being nosey. But she couldn't leave. She was too caught up in this. No matter how badly she wanted to turn away, her body wouldn't let her.

She opened the door all the way, stepping inside of the room. He continued to look down, letting his hair cover his eyes while pretending not to notice her. She reached for her top shirt button and began to unbutton the first few buttons to her shirt. She stopped after the shirt was opened a decent amount, showing her chest and a few of the tribal tattoos that marked her left shoulder and collarbone.

She took a few steps towards him. "Levi…" She wanted for this to all stop. She was making a mistake, and she knew that. But she couldn't control herself at this moment. Not while he had that heart breaking look on his face. She made her way over to him, carefully crawling onto his bed with him and into his lap. Her thighs straddled his, she reached up to cup his face and angle his head in such a way that he was forced to look up at her.

The moment that his steel gray eyes met her mismatched eyes in a gaze, she realized that she didn't actually know what to say. She wasn't good at this. She paused for a moment, then eventually reached out for his hand and brought it up to her chest. She rested his palm against the left side of her chest, directly above her lively heart.

Levi stared at her with a questioning stare. He was confused on what she was trying to say. He wasn't sure whether to feel comfortable with this or not. He was not sure what was going on. "I…" He heard her murmur, her eyes dropped from his and glanced down at their conjoined hands that rested over her beating heart. "I'm...sorry…"

She was shocked to feel something warm and wet trickle down her cheek. A tear? She parted her crimson lips as if she was about to say more, but she felt too choked up to form any actual words. She glanced back up at him, her eyes telling him that she was confused by her own reaction.

This was her way of trying to provide comfort. Her way of trying to sympathize. Her way of apologizing for being right. She let go of his hand and resumed cupping his face. Nicole leaned in, carefully placing the most delicate and sweet kiss she possibly could on his pale lips. She touched him as if he was the most fragile thing in the world, as if she was scared to break him.

This had been what he secretly wanted ever since he returned home. He immediately responded to her kiss, kissing her back with far more passion than she expected. He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He didn't ever want to let go of this moment, and more importantly, he never wanted to let go of her.

He had easily gotten her worked up after a couple of intense kisses. A shiver traveled down her spine, and a light blush crept up onto her cheeks. It had suddenly become so clear to her. It was unmistakable, she had fallen hard for this human man. And she would do anything to keep him happy. _Absolutely anything._

His hands wandered a bit, trailing down from her waist to her thighs. He gripped at her mid thigh and yanked her forward so that she was forced to be closer to him. A small gasp left her lips, only to be muted by his lips as he continued to kiss her. Was that what he really wanted?

She decided that she was happy to comply.

She pressed her hips into him while reaching around his neck and tangling her fingers in his blackened hair. She gave a gentle tug on his hair and pulled him closer to her. He responded by grasping onto her thighs so tightly that he would undoubtedly leave a bruise.  
She was just the distraction that he needed. He didn't like to wallow in his own pitiful emotions, and neither did she. She was the perfect woman for him. She was the perfect remedy.

Levi hooked his index fingers around her pants belt loops and gave a light tug, silently asking for her permission. She pulled a few inches back from him, breaking their intense make out. "Are you sure?" She murmured, doubting his ability to make rational decisions in such a stressful time. He raised an eyebrow as he stared back at her. His expression clearly said it all. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Nicole took the hint. She pulled her arms from around his neck and pushed against his chest, causing him to fall backwards onto the bed. His back his the mattress with a quiet thud. Levi stared up at her with slight curiosity. She reached for the edge of her own shirt and easily pulled it over her head, leaving Levi slightly baffled. He had seen her naked before, but watching her strip down never failed to amaze him. She removed her bra shortly after and tossed both of clothing items to the floor. She reached for the button of her pants, but before she could undo them, Levi had flipped their positions.

Levi had grabbed her by the waist and flipped her off of him. The wind was knocked out of her lungs the moment she landed on her back. Her pale cheeks flushed a bright pink when he hovered over her. A small mew had escaped her lips, and he found it to be absolutely adorable. She drove him insane on so many levels. He quickly removed her pants and undergarments, tossing them to the side along with her shirt and bra.  
He was so impatient, and all he could focus on was the fact that he wanted to claim her as his. He wanted something to remind him of why he should be happy. He wanted something to make him feel whole again... He leaned down to capture her lips in another fervent kiss. One of his hands supported his weight, while the other reached over to grasp her by the hip. He pulled her closer to him, causing her to arch her back.

"Levi!" She cried out his name, causing him to shudder. He could feel himself growing as hard as a rock. He couldn't resist grinding himself against her. She let out a small moan of pleasure. Her hands slid between them so that she could work on removing his shirt. She quickly undid his shirt and helped him shrug the clothing off of his shoulders. Her curious hands aimlessly wandered over his rock hard chest and abs.  
After a bit of exploring, she slipped her hands down to his pants. She had easily unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. She pulled them down just enough so that she could get exactly what she desired. She shuddered when she felt the length of his manhood suddenly rub up against her. The friction created between them made both of them shudder.

Nicole bit down on Levi's lip on accident, earning a muffled groan from him. Her hands wandered back up to his chest. She traced her fingertips over his flesh, causing him to shiver underneath her gentle touch. Her hands finally rested on his well-toned biceps; her nails dug into his muscle. A startled gasp escaped her throat when he bit her back.

Levi bit her lower lip hard enough to puncture her skin. Her hips bucked up against him in reaction as she cried out in both pleasure and pain. "Levi, please…" She whimpered. He broke their kiss and rested his forehead against hers. His cold gray eyes stared into her vibrant blue-green depths. Despite everything bad that had happened, he had to admit he had one good thing in his life- this beautiful woman right here beneath him.

Her heart was pounding inside of her chest, her breath was heavy and ragged. Her sweet breath tickled Levi's noise, and he couldn't help but to find himself leaning back in for another kiss. She was too intoxicating to even attempt resisting. The moment his lips met hers, he answered her plea with a rough thrust.

Her claws dug into the flesh of his biceps the moment that he penetrated her. "Nyuh!" She yelped in response, surprised when her whole body was jerked back and forth with everyone of his movements. She had never expected a human to be so rough, but she liked it. She felt him break her virgin barrier, and she recognized that she was in pain, but she was also experiencing so much pleasure that she was practically blind to the pain.

Levi reached up to grasp the headboard of his bed with one hand for support and used his other hand to grab Nicole's thigh to wrap around his own waist. She was so tight that it took everything he had in him not to moan the moment he entered her. He continued to thrust into her, rocking her body back and forth with each motion. She kept calling his name, pleasuring him beyond all belief. After this she was going to be marked as his forever, and that brought a sense of satisfaction to him.

A loud moan escaped her lips once he hit her sweet spot. "Levi, harder, please!" She called out breathlessly. He grunted in reply and slammed into her twice as hard, sending her into overdrive. She trembled beneath him when a wave of pleasure washed over her body. Her muscles tensed more tightly with everyone of this relentless thrusts. He picked up his speed when he noticed a tightening around his manhood. After a few more powerful thrusts, he felt the same release that she did. He groaned when his seed was spilled inside her, filling her completely.

His grip on the headboard loosened. His heart was hammering inside of his chest. He breathed heavily as sweat trickled down his brow. Nicole was lying beneath him, completely baffled by the events that had just occurred. Her breathing began to slow down into an even pace, and she stared up at him with awe. She had never imagined a human to be able to pleasure her to that extent.

"You were a virgin…" Levi stated after he was able to regain his ability to breathe normally.

"And?"

A cocky smirk played at his lips for a moment. "I never imagined you to be so innocent."

Nicole's eyes widened for a moment and her face flushed with embarrassment. She quickly shoved him off of the bed and rolled the other way when he hit the floor. "**_Shut up_**, Levi…"


	14. Even This Demon Has A Heart

Chapter Fourteen: Even this Demon has a _Heart_

One session hadn't been enough to satisfy her needs. She finally understood why humans had always had the assumption that demons were highly sexual creatures- it was because they were, once they got a taste. After her long night with Levi, she was left in a completely dazzled state. By the time morning had come, Levi insisted that they had to get up for the day. So the two of them showered, and he cleaned the stained sheets while she wandered off to the dining room to keep Eren company.

She had been sitting next to him, with a cup of warm milk encircled by her hands. Her eyes stared blankly down at her cup as she recalled the previous night's events and let them replay in her head over and over again. She hated to admit it, but she was already addicted. "Nicole, aren't you going to have something for breakfast?" Nicole failed to acknowledge him. She was so rapt up in her own thoughts that Eren's question never even processed in her mind. Eren stared at her with a slightly concerned look. "Umm.. Nicole?" He called to her again, but this time slightly louder and more direct.

She immediately jerked out of her thought, her gaze snapped upwards to meet his. "What?" She asked, a blush crept up onto her pale face.

Eren hesitated for a moment. She sure was acting strangely. "I asked if you were hungry."

"Oh, no." She looked back down and went right back into her lecturous thoughts.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Feeling alright? Fuck, she was feeling _fantastic._ "Yep." She replied, obviously distracted.

Eren decided to leave it be and ask no further questions. Levi finally entered a room after finishing his full desanitization of his bedroom. Nicole immediately glanced up at him, her feline eyes fixated purely on him. Eren kept quiet, but noticed the sudden awe struck expression on Nicole's face. He was almost positive at that moment that Nicole and Levi had an 'eventful' night. Just the thought of such a thing made him blush like crazy. He avoided any eye contact and looked down. The air in the room grew a little too awkward for him.

"Uhh... I'm going to go outside and train... If that's alright." Eren told them, immediately standing from his place at the table and taking his dishes to the sink before scurrying out of the room.

"Tch, damn brat can't even clean his own dishes." Levi grumbled. His foul attitude was suddenly alleviated when his eyes fell on Nicole. She was staring at him like a predator did when they stalked their next prey. He was one hundred percent sure that she was fully prepared to jump his bones at any given moment.

He had to admit that it definitely stoked his ego knowing that she had acquired such a taste for him. "Not now." He told her, deciding to be responsible. Her face instantly fell into a pout. Levi turned and began walking towards the exit, while trying to mask the slight limp from his sprained ankle that he received from fighting the female Titan. He stopped in mid stride when he reached the doors threshold to briefly glance over his shoulder at her and add on, "My room, ten o'clock tonight. Don't be late."

The huskiness to his voice made her shudder. Goosebumps raised as she anticipated what awaited her. _She couldn't wait to get another taste of him._

oOoOoOo

Nicole couldn't help but to be distracted the entire day. She had one thing on her mind, and one thing only. For the last few hours she had been laying in Levi's bed, waiting for ten o'clock to finally arrive. Time couldn't possibly move by quick enough for her, so she just impatiently laid in his bed, squirming while her anticipation built up.

The previous night's events were replaying over and over in her head. The image of him hovering over her, completely dominating her and telling her exactly what to do sent shivers down her spine. His ruthless behavior aroused her to a whole new level. He made the perfect alpha, and the perfect nighttime lover. She briefly checked the time to see that it was only nine-thirty. A displeased whine emitted from throat as she rolled onto her back and pouted.

She hadn't been the only one distracted that day. The moment that Levi had seen the desire in her eyes, he found himself wanting her just as badly. However, he found pleasure in making her squirm in anticipation, so he had told her she had to wait. It satisfied him to watch her get so flustered and impatient, but he had also realized that waiting so long was killing him too. There was an aching hollowness in his chest still from losing his squad, and he found that the best way to suppress that feeling was by using Nicole as a distraction. So he had found himself retiring to his room a half-hour early.

He wasn't at all surprised to find her already curled up in his bed. Nicole had immediately perked up when Levi had opened the door to his bedroom. Her eyes immediately lit up with excitement as soon as he limped his way into the room. This damn girl was an addict…

He wordlessly closed the door behind him before making his way to the bed. He easily kicked off his boots and crawled into the bed beside her. Levi laid on his side, facing her so that he could get a clear view of her face. He couldn't help but to notice how beautiful she was at that moment. Her usually pale face was flushed with a light pink hue, and her bright eyes practically sparkled even in the dim lighting. His eyes glanced at her plump crimson lips and settled there.

She suddenly found herself nervous and unsure on how to respond. Her heart was fluttering inside of her chest, and she nervously bit her bottom lip. Was she supposed to say something? She wasn't good at starting conversations. "Umm... So..." She began, trailing off when she noticed his gray eyes staring intently at her. Her cheeks flushed a deeper shade and she quickly shut her mouth and dropped her gaze down to his chest.

Levi didn't share that same hesitancy. "Get undressed." He ordered, still staring directly at her lips. The authority that his voice held sent a pleasant shiver down her spine. Her mismatched eyes glanced back up to capture his gaze. She loved it when he told her what to do in situations like this. She complied, quickly slipping out of her clothing and waiting for further orders. He glanced over her nude body and motioned for her to climb on top of him.

She quickly replied, straddling his waist with her thighs and resting her palms against his toned chest to maintain balance. Even through the fabric of his shirt she could feel the heat practically radiating off of him. Levi reached up to grasp her by the hips so that he could hold her steady. Nicole slyly slipped her hands down towards his pants and began to undo them, carefully sliding them down so that he was revealed to her. A light blush crept onto her cheeks as she glanced down at his already hard manhood that was between her thighs.

Levi watched her carefully, taking in all of her adorable curiosity. It almost made him smirk when he caught her staring at him in all his glory. He gripped her hips more firmly and forced her in a rocking motion, grinding himself against her core. His actions earned him a muffled moan from Nicole. Her sharpened nails dug into his chest. He noticed the stinging bite of her claws, but chose to ignore it.

He forced himself up into a sitting position, still keeping her in his lap. Once he was upright with her, he pulled her closer towards him. His hands travelled down to her thighs as he pulled her in as close as he could. He made sure to carefully line himself up with her entrance so that he could slowly penetrate her. Once he was completely inside, he paused his movements, allowing her to have time to adjust to his size. Nicole bit her bottom lip, letting out a small whimper as he forced himself inside of her. She was grateful when he gave her time to adjust since she was still slightly sore from the previous night.

He angled his head upwards so that he could capture her plump lips in an open mouthed kiss. Her hands reached up to cup his jawline as she got lost in the frenzied kiss. He loved the sweet taste of her mouth, his tongue carefully explored the inside of her mouth, gently pushing against her tongue and grazing against one of her elongated canine fangs.

Deciding that she had had enough time to get use to his size, he began to encourage her to follow a slow rocking motion. He continued to tightly grip her thighs, guiding her to ride him at a steady pace. She let out a quiet moan, only to have the noise swallowed by the man kissing her. He began to pick up the speed, exciting Nicole to the point that she accidentally nipped at his bottom lip. He grunted in response to her love bite and jerked her harder onto him, giving her a harsh thrust as punishment for biting him. The blonde haired beauty yelped in reply and jerked towards him. Her arms immediately wrapped around his neck so that she could cling onto him. Her fingers got tangled in his ebony locks of hair, and her thighs tense against his.

She had broken the kiss and pulled his head closer to her chest. He was practically being smothered by her ample breasts, but he couldn't complain. He heard another yelp escaped her lips when he found her sweet spot. He continued to bounce her up and down in his lap, making sure to hit that same spot repeatedly. He groaned when he felt himself also approaching an orgasm.

Nicole cried out his name, clutching on to him as if her life depended on it. She felt a tightening in her core and let out a moan when her muscles began to spasm from her climax. Levi couldn't help but to finish almost simultaneously with her. "_Fuck_," He cursed, burying her face further into her breasts when he reached his limit and spilled his seed into her hot core. He slowed her rocking motion into a halt and let out a pleased sigh.

Levi loosened his grip on her thighs and wrapped his arms around her waist so that he could pull her down with him when he decided to lay on his back. Nicole remained on top of him, resting against his chest. She rested her head right over his heart so that she could listen to his heartbeat hammering inside of his chest. There was a peaceful silence between the two of them, nothing could be heard besides their ragged breathing as it slowed to an even pace.

Levi's eyes focused on the ceiling above them. How did they end up like this? His thoughts lingered on that question. Their new found relationship had just been so sudden that he didn't know what to make of it. Nicole wedged her head underneath his chin, causing him to jut out his jaw in an awkward way. He turned his head to the side so that he could be in a more comfortable position. He almost immediately regretted shifting his head when his gaze fell upon the patches that rested on his nightstand. His breath hitched in his throat as a wave of unpleasant emotion came crashing down on him.

He felt guilty for being here like this. For making love to a beautiful woman and enjoying himself right after his squad died. He felt a pang of despair residing in his chest. His grip around Nicole loosened as his thoughts were plagued with such negative thoughts about their relationship. He was second guessing everything. Had he jumped into this too soon? Was he just using her to make himself feel better? She didn't deserve that, and neither did his squad. How could he degrade their memory like that?

Nicole had noticed his grip becoming slack around her. She glanced up at him and noticed his eyes were fixated on something. She shifted her gaze so that she could view what he was staring at. Her heart sank when her own eyes fell upon the patches. Was he thinking about them?

"Levi?" She called out, receiving no response. Her lips curved into a slight frown. She propped herself up on one arm and reached up to cup his cheek. She gently persuaded him to turn his head towards her. He reluctantly met her gaze. She didn't know how to properly comfort him, so she did the only thing she knew how to do. "_Just fuck me again."_

And how could he say no to such a blunt request?

oOoOoOo

She didn't know what to do anymore. Her relationship with Levi clearly wasn't a very healthy one. The poor man was grieving, and she just provided him with sex in order to try comforting him. Nicole laid next to Levi in his bed, snuggling up to his side as he slept peacefully. Her eyes blankly stared at the patches that had once belonged to Levi's squad.

She recalled the previous day when he had found her by the lake, remembering that he was originally there to bury his squads patches. She remembered that he had a shovel with him, and that he was in the process of digging up a hole when she had washed ashore. Maybe that would bring him some peace, if he finally got to put his squad to rest.

Nicole sat up on the bed and glanced down at Levi's sleeping figure. He looked so serene when sleeping. It was a good look on him, and she found herself wishing that she could see him like this more often. So she new exactly what she had to do. She cautiously slipped out of the bed, carefully stepping onto the cold floor with her bare feet. She tip toed over to Levi's closet to find a fresh pair of clothes. She pulled out one of his plain colored shirts and white uniform pants and easily slipped them on. They had a loose fit, the pants sagged on her waist and legs.

Nicole snuck her way over to the nightstand and carefully picked up the patches and snuck them into her pocket. She glanced around the room, searching for a piece of paper and a pen. Once she found one, she left a note in place of the patches before sneaking her way out of the room.

oOoOoOo

Levi had woken up to an empty bed. Usually this was not something that would bother him, but given the circumstances, it did at this very moment. He sat up and searched his room for Nicole with groggy eyes. She was nowhere to be spotted. His eyes instantly widened when he noticed that the patches were missing from the nightstand. He jolted up out of his bed and snatched up the paper note that rested in their place. One the piece of paper there was the word "_lake"_ scrawled out in cursive.

Levi didn't even take the time to fully compose himself before running out the door and down the hallway. He pulled his pants back up and buttoned them, then hurriedly limped out of his room. He knew exactly what lake she was referring to. His memory flashed back to the area that he was when he had intended to bury his squad's uniform patches. There was a part of him that expected her to do something reckless or inconsiderate. He dreaded the possible argument that was about to occur as he approached the lake. Once he got passed the border line of trees, he halted and observed the sight before him.

Nicole was sitting beneath a tree, with a shovel beside her and four small yet deep holes dug in the dirt before her. She sat with her legs crossed and patiently waited for him to arrive. He slowly walked towards her, remaining silent the entire time. "I thought that you would want to bury them." She stated, sensing his presence the moment he had arrived. "Since you didn't get the chance to do so before hand," She added, will fidgeting with the patches that rested in her hands.

Once Levi had reached her, he kneeled down beside her and stared forward at the small graves she had created. Such a gesture was uncharacteristically kind for her. He hesitated, not sure on how to respond. She could sense his reluctance. Her eyes dropped downward as she contemplated what to say. "I… I don't know what it's like to lose someone so close. And I cannot imagine that it is easy for a captain to lose his entire squad…" She briefly trailed off, her gaze lifted up to meet his as he turned towards her. She ceased her fidgeting and stuck her hand out, offering the patches to him. He paused before reaching over and taking them from her. "I just hope, that despite everything that happened, I can at least make it a little better."

Levi was completely baffled and at loss on what to say. He looked down at the patches that now rested in his hand. He took his stand, placed each patch in its own individual grave and covered the grave with dirt before sitting back down on the grass next to Nicole. There was a moment of awkward silence between them as both of them pondered over their own thoughts.

Levi was still in shock by how sweet she was being. He glanced out of the corner of his eyes and carefully watched her. Before he knew it, he found himself cautiously snaking one arm around her shoulders and pulling her in closer to him. She did not resist, she leaned into his side and rested her head against his jaw and neck. "Thank...you." He murmured in a barely audible voice, but Nicole's sensitive ears had picked it up. A small, genuine smile tugged at her lips.

"So…" Nicole started, her eyes glimmered with devious intent. "How about we mark this place as our territory?" She purred out with a suggestive wink, trying to lighten the mood.

Levi's lips twitched upwards into a partial smile. This damn girl and her freaking stamina...


	15. Suspicion

Chapter Fifteen: Suspicion

_"And then all of the questions began to rise..."_

"Where is Levi?" Nicole's eyes slowly fluttered open when she heard a familiar voice speaking in the distance. She recognized the voice, it was the head commander of the scout regiment, Erwin Smith. She blinked her eyes a few times, trying to clear her vision of blurriness and relieve herself of the groggy feeling.

"He's asleep," She heard Eren reply to Erwin's question. His voice dropped down into a mumble as he added on, "With Nicole…". _So much for keeping their relationship a secret._ Nicole reached up to rub her eyes one final time before sitting up and glancing around the room. Nothing was out of the ordinary; Levi was fast asleep beside her. Her eyes rested on his face and a ghost of a smile tugged at her lips. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, his facial muscles were completely relaxed.

Nicole leaned down to place a gentle kiss on his lips. "Wake up love, you have company."

Levi's lips twitched underneath hers, he turned his head away and grunted in displeasure at being woken up. He clenched his eyes shut even tighter than before and rolled away from her. She perked up at his response and leaned in closer to smother him with kisses. She showered gentle pecks all over his face. She kissed his eyelids, his cheeks, his nose and his lips. She continuously pestered him until he became slightly more alert. Levi grabbed her by the neck and pulled her down so that he could return her affection. He pressed his lips against hers and held her there for an extended period of time, giving her a sweet, gentle kiss. "Fine," He groaned once he broke their connection and released her from his grasp. "But you have to get up too."

Nicole replied with a snort, "Psht, please." She distanced herself from him and made herself comfy in the bed. "I'm not the one with company."

A evil glint lingered in Levi's steel grey eyes, and before she knew it, he had snatched her up by the waist and threw her over his shoulder so that he could easily carry her to the bathroom. "_Leviii, nooo,_" She playfully pouted in protest. He carried her into the bathroom, turned on the faucet and threw her under the steaming water. He earned a small glare from Nicole when the cold water hit her body, causing her to jump away from the showerhead. She waited a couple minutes before cautiously stepping back under the now headed water flow.

Her body trembled in delight when the warm water caressed her flesh, relaxing her tense muscles and calming her. Before she knew it, Levi had picked up a bar of soap and began to lather her up. She giggled to herself as he cleaned her. "What?" He stared at her with a questioning stare. Rather than answering him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. "You little clean freak." She teased, earning a half-hearted glare from him.

"Whatever," He grumbled, continuing to clean her and then himself. The two rinsed off underneath the hot water before shutting off the faucet and reaching out for a fresh set of towels to dry off.

Levi had wrapped his towel around his waist and exited the bathroom so that he could find a fresh pair of clothes. He rummaged through his closet to find a fresh uniform and quickly got dressed and composed himself for the day. Realizing that Nicole has nothing to wear, he picked out a pair of his pants and a short sleeved white shirt. She was halfway out the bathroom door when he chucked the outfit towards her. She reflexively caught the clothes before they had the chance to hit her. "Thanks," she easily slipped the clothing on moments after.

It was slightly amusing to see her dressed in his clothes. Not only did it satisfy him to see her wearing something that was his, silently telling everyone that she was his and only his, but it was adorable to see how awkward that clothing looked on her. She had such a small frame and figure that his clothes sagged slightly when she wore them. The baggy clothing made her appear even tinier than she actually was, making her look more vulnerable and cute.

Once they were both fully clothed, Nicole started to walk towards the bedroom door to exit the room, but before she could pass the threshold, Levi grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back so that he could press his lips against hers. She was slightly startled by his actions, but returned the affection. She gave him a tender kiss and quickly parted. "Hurry up, you don't want to keep them waiting any longer." She told him, motioning to the hallway with a nod of her head.

The two of them made their way to the dining room side by side. The instant that they walked into the room, Nicole was surprised to see a handful of soldiers crowding the room. She stuttered in mid stride and found herself taking a step backwards. "Oh," she murmured, realizing that this was a private meeting. She turned her gaze to Levi, "I'll go wait in my room."

She could instantly feel the curious stares that fell upon her. Hange and Erwin were especially intrigued by the scene before them. Both Nicole's and Levi's hair was drenched from their shared shower, and it didn't take long for Erwin and Hange to put two and two together.

She could instantly feel the curious stares that fell upon her. Hange and Erwin were especially intrigued by the scene before them. Both Nicole's and Levi's hair was drenched from their shared shower, and it didn't take long for Erwin and Hange to put two and two together. They were both slightly shocked that Levi wouldn't put more effort into keeping his relationship more private.

Eren's cheeks were tinted a deep red, he immediately adverted his eyes. He was blushing madly at the thought of the affair he was certain Levi and Nicole were having. It was an awkward thought imagining the two angriest people that he knew being emotionally and physically involved with another human being. He continued to avoid eye contact until the conversation stayed.

"No, why don't you stay?" Erwin spoke out in a smooth voice, his bright blue eyes fixating on Nicole's retreating form. Nicole paused in mid stride and glanced back over her shoulder at him. The moment their eyes met, Nicole could feel her mouth become dry. She swallowed hard and hesitantly turned back around so that she could reenter the room. She found herself becoming nervous as he continued to watch her.

She already knew that Erwin suspected her to be something different than human, and she was terrified of him completely figuring out her secret. She wasn't ready to admit to Levi what she really was. She was perfectly happy living in this current fantasy, pretending as if their relationship might actually work. She already felt guilty for keeping so many secrets, but she was scared that everything would go south for her if she was honest about her past.

Even after their discussion continued, she noticed that Erwin kept throwing furtive glances her way. Nicole dropped her gaze and broke out into a nervous sweat. Levi noticed the sudden change in her demeanor. He silently urged her to take a seat at the table next to him, and he reached for her hand and held it in his underneath the table so that their conjoined hands were hidden from everyone's view. He rubbed his thumb in a circular motion on the back of her hand, attempting to sooth her. He found himself glaring at Erwin. He didn't know what exactly had happened to put Nicole in so much distress, but he knew that whatever it was, it was Erwin's fault. He could tell by the way she determinedly avoided eye contact with the blonde commander.

Nicole listened carefully to the conversation around her, trying to allow her common sense to overcome her fear. "We are positive that the female Titan's true identity is…" There was a moment of suspense as Erwin's voice paused for dramatic effect. "…Annie Leonhardt." Nicole wasn't sure who that was, but Eren sure seemed to.

Eren's face immediately paled and he went into a state of denial. "What? No… That's not possible!" Nicole turned her attention towards Eren and tilted her head in curiosity. "We were cadets together… That's just not possible! Annie would never kill so many soldiers!" Eren seemed to be desperate to believe that this was true.

"Eren…" A pale, young blonde male spoke up. The boy's soft voice seemed uncertain and hesitant to speak. "It's true. I'm sure of it."

Eren froze in mid argument, his vibrant green eyes widened in shock. "A-Armin?"

Armin was reluctant to continue. "I figured it out after the Titan specimens were killed…" His bright blue eyes dropped to stare at the table as he recalled the moment that he began to suspect Annie of fraud. "I noticed that she turned in Marco's 3D maneuver device instead of her own. There wouldn't have been a need for that, unless she had recently used her own equipment without authorization."

"I just think she looks like the female Titan." An oriental teenaged girl piped up with a bitter attitude.

"No, I can't believe that. We have to at least give her a chance!" Eren insisted, earning a skeptical glance from his friends.

Nicole remained quiet, choosing not to provide any input since she was unaware of whom they were speaking of. She glanced between each one of the speakers, silently observing each of them. There was a moment of awkward silence between the group. "Okay, let's assume that she is the female Titan, what are we going to do? How are we going to get her?" Eren questioned.

No one had an answer for that yet. Everyone sat there, with grim expressions on their faces. They all knew that if they made Annie feel cornered, and if she was in fact the female Titan, it would just result in a large number of casualties. "Put her in a hole." Nicole suggested, finally choosing to contribute.

Everyone almost seemed startled when they heard her speak up. She was an unfamiliar voice to most of the crowd, they had practically forgotten that she was there. "What?" Erwin replied, staring at her with confused, but curious eyes.

Nicole paused and thought her idea over again before presenting it to the rest of them. "Just like Hange was originally planning to do with Eren. During one of her experiments, she planned to allow Eren to turn into a Titan while he was inside of a well so that he would be contained. Well the same concept applies here. Find an area to corner her in to minimize the damage."

Hange touched her index finger to her chin as she contemplated Nicole's idea. "There are the underground tunnels in the city that are no longer used. We could always use those…"

"If done correctly, it would definitely help minimize the amount of casualties." Armin commented, his mind lingering on the thought.

After a short while, a plan was formed, and Erwin dismissed the meeting, deciding that everyone needed a little more down time before the plan was put into action. The crowd quickly dispersed, Nicole was one of the first ones to get up and make a bolt for it. The quicker she could get away from the crowd, the better. She could only tolerate so many interactions for one day. On her way out, she accidentally bumped into Armin, nearly knocking him over. "Sorry," She murmured, continued to speedily walk down the hall and towards her bedroom.

Armin meant to reply, but he was cut short when something caught his eye. His gaze focused on the black inked tattoos that covered Nicole's left arm. Armin's step stuttered as his mind flashed back to that night many years ago. Those markings… He recognized those markings, from the arm that popped out from the Satanic bible that he accidentally discovered among his grandparents secret book stash. His bright blue eyes widened with realization. She's… a demon…

oOoOoOo

The moment that the crowd dispersed, Nicole had slipped her hand out of Levi's and taken off. How typical of her to make a bolt from an opportunity to socialize. He stood up and intended to accompany her to her room, but he was stopped by Erwin. "Levi," Erwin addressed him with concern, "Are your sure that your relationship with that girl is…wise?"

Levi halted and glanced back at him. "You placed her with me." He deadpanned, his grey eyes narrowing at Erwin's implications.

Erwin was slightly taken back by Levi's sudden defensiveness. "I didn't expect the two of you to get so close so quickly." He admitted.

"Tch. Well you should have thought that through." Levi commented before exiting the room. Erwin blinked a few times, surprised by Levi's sassy attitude.

"Who knew that Levi would be a sucker for a pretty face," Hange commented, still lingering in the corner of the room, waiting for her commander. Neither of them had ever thought that Levi would be one to let his emotions mingle with and intrude on his duties as a soldier. Erwin didn't reply to her statement

Levi followed Nicole into her room, pausing in the door way and watching her slip into bed and wordlessly sulk. He wasn't sure what had gotten into her. Ever since she had noticed Erwin staring at her, she seemed to get ridiculously uncomfortable. He found himself becoming jealous at all of the possibilities of what could have caused her discomfort. He stepped into her room and shut the door behind him before making his way to her bedside and joining her on the mattress. "What's wrong?" He wondered aloud. It was awkward for him to express so much concern, but he found himself slightly relaxed around her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back into him so that her shoulder blades were pressed against his chest.

"Nothing," She lied, allowing herself to be held close to his chest.

There were a lot of things wrong. She was mentally and emotionally torn. There was a part of her that just wanted to be honest with him, but she was scared. Humans and demons didn't typically get along. She wanted to at least wait until the right moment, so that there was less of a chance of him hating her.

"You're not a very good liar."

"I wasn't trying to be," She replied. "Just lay with me for a minute."

He could never deny his woman such a request.

oOoOoOo

Armin had found himself sitting in a living room with Eren. During the meeting, it had been decided that Armin and Mikasa would stay the night in the castle to keep Eren company and calm their nerves before the big mission to capture the female Titan. The three of them were caught in an awkward silence, not entirely sure on what to say. "Who is that blonde woman?" Armin asked, finally breaking the silence.

Eren perked up at his question. "Huh? Who? Nicole?"

"Yeah, the girl with the tattoos."

"Oh. I don't really know. I think she's Levi's girlfriend or something. She's been around ever since Levi took me in. The two of them have been practically inseparable lately…" He trailed off, a light blush crept onto Eren's face at the last comment he made. It was awkward discussing his captain's personal life. "Why do you ask?"

Armin ignored his question. "Have you noticed anything…different about her?" His voice made him slightly timid.

"Like what?" Eren's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I don't know," Armin answered honestly. He wasn't sure of what to expect from a demon.

Eren looked up towards the ceiling and thought over all of the interactions he had had with Nicole. "Well, come to think of it, she's insanely strong. And she almost never eats anything. But other than that, nothing too out of the ordinary."

"I see." There was an unsettled feeling in the pit of Armin's stomach.

Eren couldn't help but to notice bizarre change in Armin's behavior. "Seriously, why are you asking this?"

"I think that I know her."

Eren raised an eyebrow. He didn't recall ever seeing her around the town before. "Really? From where?"

"…From a book." His voice came out as a low whisper.

"What?"

The conversation immediately died down when Levi and Nicole entered the room. Nicole's predator eyes had immediately fixated on Armin. She had clearly heard everything that he had said. Armin felt a lump develop in his throat, choking him up.

Levi had found Nicole's sudden change somewhat odd. One moment she wanted to snuggle in bed, then the next she practically jolted out of the bed and demanded that they went down stairs to accompany Eren and his friends. She seemed so distracted, as if something else had caught her attention.

The second that she had heard Armin prying for information about her, she flew into high alert mode. Maybe she was worrying about the wrong person earlier… At first she was puzzled on why he would be so interested in her, but the moment he referred to knowing her through a 'book', she realized who he was. She remembered that day that he accidentally began to summon her just as well as he did.

Nicole subconsciously reached for her left arm as a phantom pain jolted through her flesh, reminding her of the pain Armin had caused when he severed her arm years ago. She insensibly glared at the blonde haired boy, her feline eyes narrowed into hateful slits. She wasn't one to let a grudge go. She watched him with scrutinizing eyes as Armin shifted uncomfortably beneath her gaze.

Eren and Levi were both confused. They both knew that Nicole tended to be harsh, but they had never seen her go out of her way to make someone feel so unwelcomed without a reasonable cause. Usually the only one that she treated that poorly was infact Levi. "Nicole…?" Eren called out her name with a bit of hesitance, wanting to avoid conflict at all costs. He had witnessed first hand how immense her strength was, and he didn't want to test her patients knowing how short her fuse was.

"Hm?" She replied with a hum, her glare lightened up a bit, but her keen eyes remained focused on Armin.

Eren wasn't entirely sure of what to say once he knew he had her attention. "Are you… Okay?" He asked, noticing Armin shrink back more and more with each passing moment. Eren soon found that he too was feeling intimidated.

She was thinking of how easy it would be to kill this little boy. He obviously didn't have the intelligence to keep himself quiet. It would take a mere millisecond for her to snap his neck, or throw him off of the second story to his death. Her jaw tightened with that thought. It wouldn't take long at all. However, she knew that if she did something that brash, there would be questions. And since Armin clearly had a good standing with everyone else in the castle, she would be the first one suspected. So she had no choice but to trust that he would learn his lesson from this non-verbal warning and keep his mouth shut.

She forced herself to break eye contact with Armin. She turned to face Eren and offered a false smile. "I'm fine." There was a peculiar edge to her tone. "Just wondering what _book_ Armin thinks he recognizes me from." Though she did not opening threaten him, he felt that there was an underlying threat behind her words.

Armin wasn't a coward, but he also was not stupid. The moment that he realized she was offering him an opportunity for redemption, he took it. "Oh, no, I just meant you look similar to a character I saw in some children's book, haha," He laughed nervously, reaching up to rub the back of his head in an awkward manner.

_Smart boy._ "You're not the first person to tell me that." This was all bad. Things were slowly starting to unravel in a negative way for Nicole. She was going to keep a watchful eye on Armin and Erwin. She shifted her head so that she could meet Levi's eyes. "Come one, lets go get some milk," She suggested with a desireable purr, a satisfied smile curved her lips upward. Before Levi could reply, she grabbed his hand in hers and entwined their fingers, practically dragging him along with her. The two left the group of teens behind, completely baffled.

"She's… Really scary…" Armin murmured, his eyes following after the retreating forms of Levi and Nicole.

"Yeah, I know." Eren replied.

_They didn't even know the half of it._

oOoOoOo

_**Author's Note: Don't worry, I am actually very fond of Armin. He is my second favorite character! I promise that I won't kill him off! Just using this to set up some more character development and plot (:**_

_**I actually had intended to make this one long chapter, but I realized that with all of the exams that I have coming up, that might take a while, so I split this chapter in half. The next half will probably contain a lot of drama and action in it. Enter the demons...(;**_


	16. Not Every Day Has A Happy Ending

Chapter Sixteen: Not Every Day Has A Happy Ending

"_Blood is thicker than water, but water is a cleanse…"_

_ It was a hot Summer night in the middle of July, and yet somehow this night seemed so bone chillingly cold. Instead of the usual warm, clear weather, there were blackened clouds hanging low in the sky this night. Without the moon or stars being in sight, the night seemed darker than usual. The shadows had become the blackest of black, concealing the most vicious predator of them all._

_In the nightfall's shadows lurked a demon. Not just any demon, but the demon who went by the name __**Colin Knight. **__Gold reptilian eyes glowed in the darkness as Colin stalked a little brown haired girl back to her new home. The child ran inside to her auntie and uncle, "I'm home!" She cheerfully announced with a joyous smile plastered on her pinkened face._

_Her uncle, whom was sitting at the table with one leg crossed over the other as he read over some military reports, looked up at her. "You're late," Her uncle teased, reaching out to lightly pinch her rounded cheeks. The child giggled, her cocoa brown eyes sparkled with joy. No one from the outside would have never guessed that this poor child had lost both of her parents in the recent Titan break through. She certainly proved the belief that children were emotionally and physically resilient. _

"_At least she's home in time for dinner." Her auntie interjected in the child's defense, offering a small smile to her niece as she stood before the stove and stirred the pot of freshly made stew. She reached for a bowl that had been laid out on the kitchen counter top and began to ladle in some of the vegetable stew for her niece. Once the bowl was filled and steaming, she began walking over to the table to place the bowl there for the little girl. "Come eat sweetie," She told the girl with a kind smile, motioning towards the chair placed before the table that awaited her._

_Before the child could comply, the front door swung open with an alarming amount of force that seemed to rattle the entire room. The auntie let out a startled gasp, the ceramic bowl slipped from her hands and came crashing to the wooden floor. In a matter of seconds, the bowl shattered, spilling all of its liquid contents on the kitchen floor. The uncle jumped up from his seat, prepared to fight just like he was trained to. "W-who are you?" His voice trembled slightly as he saw the monster that sauntered into the room from the night's shadows outside. _

_This being before him was no typical man. Before them was a humanoid creature, that stood at an impressive seven foot height. The creature was obviously male, with spiked blonde hair that faded into lengthy bangs that reached just below the figure's jawline, and a narrow face with well defined cheek bones. His skin was unnaturally pale, so pale in fact that he looked unlively and dead. He had evil, yellow snake eyes, that appeared hollow and void of any emotion besides spite. Perhaps this creature could have been mistaken for a demented (yet somehow unnaturally beautiful) young human man, if it wasn't for his topaz viper eyes and double fanged canine teeth. but from the eerie aura that followed this creature, the uncle immediately knew he couldn't possibly be human. The venomous creature locked his eyes on the child who stood in the center of the room._

_He ignored the uncles inquiry all together. "Tell me girl, where is Lyra?" He asked in a slithery voice, his forked tongue flickering passed his lips once as he put an emphasis on his "s" pronunciations. Despite the threatening tone to his voice, he managed to look amused. His pale lips curved into a wicked smile, flashing his deadly, venomous fangs to the humans before him. _

_The child was literally frozen with fear. The air suddenly felt so heavy and thick, she was certain that she was going to collapse from exhaustion at any moment. This creature's presence seemed to suck all of the oxygen out of the room, leaving his victims to suffocate. It was just like the effects of a fire, except the air around them fell below freezing temperature rather than becoming blisteringly hot. "W-what?" She child croaked out, uncertain of who this 'man' was referring to._

_His reptile eyes narrowed, there wasn't a hint of amusement on his facial features left after her response. He could still smell the scent of his sister on that child from a mile away. They had come into contact recently, he was certain of it. A demon's scent was hard to mask, and certainly hard to mix up. "Where. Is. Lyra." He said more slowly, biting out out each word with a subtle hint of malice. There wasn't any doubt in his mind that this child knew more than she was telling him._

_Tears began to swell in the child's eyes. She was frightened for her life. She wasn't sure whom this monster was asking about. Her memory briefly flashed back to the blonde haired woman with mismatched eyes that saved her from the Titans weeks ago. Could that be Lyra? She didn't think so. All of the soldiers called her Nicole… The girl looked over Colin's features again, paying close attention to how similar his facial structure and body build were to the woman who saved her (besides the obvious height difference). Perhaps that girl was the one he was looking for. They appeared to be somehow related. However, the child was too frightened to speak up. _

"_Hey, you better leave now, before I-" the uncle began, but was cut short when Colin's eyes snapped in his direction. The words turned into utter silence the instant that the demon's gaze fell upon him. Threatening this vile man would have been the last mistake that he would ever make._

"_Or else what?" Colin questioned, his voice suddenly seeming both amused and mocking. He found humans so amusing when they tried to stand up to him. They didn't understand how much danger they truly were in. Colin's mere presence was enough to put an entire city into severe peril. He was an entity of death; a creature of pure destruction and chaos. Everywhere he went, a trail of corpses followed in his path._

_The uncle didn't have time to respond. Before his lips could part to form a verbal threat, Colin suddenly appeared before him and he felt an abrupt pain jolt through his chest. Everything felt like it had moved in a slowed down motion. It took the uncle a long while to realize what had happened. His head slowly dropped, looking downward to see where the pain had originated from. In the center of his chest, right where his sternum should have been, Colin had impaled him. This vicious beast had used such an unparalleled amount of force that he had physically shoved his right hand directly through the flesh of the human man. His clawed fingers easily penetrated the skin and broken through the rib cage, leaving his heart exposed._

_The auntie screamed, her eyes widening in both shock and fear as she cried hysterically and screamed at the monster before her. The little girl silently cried, in too much shock to sob. Tears streamed down her face, but she managed to stay quiet. Blood gushed from the open wound, splattering onto the clean floor and staining it a crimson red. Colin stared directly into his victim's eyes, watching as his brown depths dulled into a lifeless state. Once he could feel the human man's body become limp, he jerked his hand away, removing his hand from his chest. Without the support of Colin's hand there to hold up the body, the corpse came crashing down to a lifeless heap on the floor._

_Finding an ounce of courage, the auntie grabbed a nearby kitchen knife and ran at Colin, attempting to avenge her husband and save her niece. She screamed at the top of her lungs, using all of the force that she could muster to shove the blade of the knife into the chest area of the demon. Much to her surprise, she had actually managed to effectively stab him. The metallic material penetrated his flesh, there was a sickening crunching sound made as the blade bent one of his ribs. However, despite all of her efforts, he did not fall._

_Colin looked down at her with an unimpressed expression. His apathetic eyes gazed directly into hers, making a bone chilling shiver travel down her spine. That was when she realized, she had just made the biggest mistake of her entire life. He let his newly formed wound bleed, soaking the black material of his long sleeved shirt in his own blood. He reached up with the same hand that had used to kill her husband and cupped her jaw line. His blood coated fingers smeared the red liquid on her face, painting her skin with her dead lover's blood._

_There was a brief moment that she thought he might spare her. He stared into her eyes with such a serene and at peace expression that she thought he might forgive her. He didn't appear to bear any ill against her (at least that particular moment). He tilted his head to the side in a curious manner, still holding her jaw firmly in his bloodied hand. "That was…" He began, trailing off for a brief moment as he pondered over what adjective to use. He released her jaw, repositioning his hand so that he now had her chin trapped between his index finger and thumb. He tilted her head further upwards, jutting out her jaw so that he could get a better look at her. "...Very stupid." He decided that there was no better word for her actions. _

_Before she had the chance to react, with one quick, powerful motion of his wrist, he had snapped her neck. He had shoved her head to the side with such a great amount of force that her neck bone couldn't endure the turning motion. The very same second that the sickening crackling noise had been heard, the woman's body collapsed to the ground. Colin's attentive eyes followed the form as it fell. The corpse of the woman had fallen on it's side; Colin kicked her lifeless body so that it rolled onto its back. He let out an obnoxious harrumph and rolled his eyes. "How pathetic," He commented before turning his attention back to the small human girl that still trembled in the center of the room. _

_The child's feet felt like they were made out of lead. She couldn't run, and she subconsciously knew that it wouldn't truly benefit her even if she could. He had so effortlessly killed both her auntie and uncle… This man- no, this __**creature**__\- was not something that she could ever hope to fight. She so desperately wished that this was just a horrific nightmare- but she knew that it wasn't. She was still staring with wide eyes, frozen stiff in her spot. She couldn't even tell if she was crying anymore. All she knew was that there was an overbearing weight crushing her, weighing down on her shoulders and slowly easing her towards death. _

_She wasn't sure if anyone could beat this man. It was clear that no soldier would ever be a match for him. Probably no Titan would be a match for him either. So what good was there in even fighting if it was entirely hopeless? Who could possibly defeat him? Her train of thought shifted towards a more positive note at that question. For a brief moment, her mind flashed to that blonde haired woman again. Maybe she could stop him... _

"_Girl," His voice was a low, feral growl. He reached up to pull the knife out of his chest, without so much as wincing. He dropped the knife to the floor, it made a loud clattering noise as it hit the ground. Blood gushed from his wound, staining the floor with deep crimson puddles. The injury quickly after began to heal; the skin began to repair itself, stitching itself back together within a matter of seconds. "Don't make me ask you again, __**girl.**__ I do not enjoy repeating myself." He took a step forward and the child felt her heart drop into her stomach. She was as good as dead. _

oOoOoOo

Nicole jolted awake, her heart hammered inside of her chest as she gasped for a large gulp of air. She shot upward into a sitting position in Levi's bed, with her claws flexed and her fangs revealed as her lips pulled back in a threatening manner. Her green-blue eyes had snapped open and quickly searched the room for any form of danger.

There was nothing there.

Levi had been startled awake beside her. "Nicole? What's wrong?" He questioned, sitting up with her and searching the room. His human eyes had difficulty adjusting to the darkness, but he definitely knew that there was something wrong.

Nicole quickly hid her claws and concealed her fangs. Her heart was still pounding inside of her chest and a cold sweat had broken out on her forehead. Her ragged breathing began to calm down to an even pace. Her dream had felt so real… She felt as if she was there, in that room with the little girl. During the entire dream, she felt as if she might be smothered by Colin's presence and suffocate on her own breath. It saddened her to think of a child having to suffer through such a terrifying experience. She shook the thought from her head and attempted to convince herself that it was just a bad dream.

However, there was a part of her that knew it wasn't. She never referred to herself as Lyra or introduced herself by her true birth name. She had disowned that name long ago, giving up the responsibility that came along with it. The only one who still called her by that name till this day was Colin, and he only called her by that name when he was challenging her to a duel. That thought sent an uncomfortable shiver down her spine.

"Nicole?" Levi questioned with uncertainty, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

She flinched at his touch, but quickly calmed down. She realized that she had not yet answered him. "Sorry…" She murmured, "Just had a really bad dream." That was certainly the understatement of the year.

"Oh." He could understand that much. He had nightmares about his dead friends and squad members quite often. "Come here." It sounded more like a command than a plea with his particular tone of voice. He nudged at her arm, trying to pull her back down with him as he laid on his back. She followed his lead, cuddling up next to him and resting her head on his chest. Her cheek pressed against his firm flesh; her cooled flesh met his warm skin. He lovingly (as lovingly as Levi could get) stroked her hair, trying to sooth and relax her.

Nicole listened to the sound of his heartbeat and his steady breathing. Somehow she felt safe in his arms. She knew that he probably would never stand a chance against her brother, but somehow his presence gave her strength. Her tensed muscles gradually relaxed, a content purr emitted from her throat. She pressed her lips against one of his pectoral muscles before snuggling up closer and closing her eyes. She was just worrying too much… Nothing bad was going to happen. Or at least that was what she desperately wanted to believe. Her mind began to drift as she found herself dozing off into a peaceful slumber.

Levi had a more difficult time falling back to sleep. There was too much on his mind. He knew that Nicole wasn't be entirely honest with him. It bothered him to a certain degree, but he didn't say anything directly to her. They never officially established an actual relationship, so she wasn't obligated to tell him anything. Just like he didn't discuss much of his personal life with her, she wasn't required to discuss her's with him.

He internally frowned. He wasn't sure if he liked where they were at or not. He continued to pet her hair, secretly loving and admiring how soft it was. His life had been so empty for so long that a part of him was craving a more intimate relationship, and he realized that he wanted that with her. Despite all of that, he found it difficult to verbally articulate that concept to her. He wasn't a very social, or emotional, person himself. Sharing his thoughts and feelings was just not in his nature. He had been so shut off for so long that he didn't know how to properly communicate with her. And he had learned from recent experiences that she wasn't skilled at communication either.

"Hmm… Levi…" His train of thought momentarily paused when he heard Nicole murmur his name in her sleep. She was dreaming again, this time a more pleasant dream. Levi pulled her closer to him, nuzzling his nose in her hair and taking a deep breath. She had such a dulcet scent that it made him shiver. Everything about this girl was so addicting.

This girl was going to be the downfall of him, and he already knew it. But that couldn't have possibly matter less in this particular moment. Levi closed his eyes and let out a delighted sigh. He couldn't have been more content at this moment… Too bad not every day could end this perfectly.

oOoOoOo

The Next Day:

_And to think, she had originally thought the human world would be safe and quiet._

Off in the distance, there was an overwhelmingly bright yellow light as a random lightning bolt struck the ground. Everyone knew what that strike of electricity meant. Goosebumps rose on Nicole's entire body when a monstrous roar echoed among the dying city as Eren's titan form emerged from a cloud of smoke. Nicole kept to herself as her observant eyes watched the scene play out before her. She watched as Eren's Titan form tackled Annie, sending her crashing into a church building and crushing nearly everyone inside.

The sickening scent of blood filled Nicole's nostrils soon after, awakening her inner demon and filling her with a twisted thrill. All of the chaos and destruction excited her inner beast so much that she began to tremble. It was a completely different reaction than she had before during the first Titan attack she experienced. Ever since she made her declaration to slaughter the Titans, she discovered that any commotion they created only put her in a fighting mode. There was no longer a need for a "fight or flight" option. She for fully prepared for an all out battle.

Levi noticed her shaking beside him. Her eyes were practically glued to Annie and Eren as they chased each other through the town. He mistook her excitement for fear. Her jaw clenched. Her demon side lusted for the bittersweet taste of blood. She swallowed hard as her throat and mouth went dry. She suddenly became very aware of the unusual thirst for violence and war that every demon secretly had. Despite her throat initially feeling dry, she began to salivate, anticipating the taste of her enemies flesh and blood. The hunger was so great that her stomach began to ache. She subconsciously reached to clutch her stomach with one hand, and reached up to cover her nose and lips with the other hand. She tried her best to block out the scent of blood. The smell was really getting to her; she could hardly contain herself.

Levi reached out to touch her shoulder. She jumped at his touch; she had forgotten that he was presently there beside her. She peeled her eyes off of the Titans battling before her and glanced towards Levi. "I told you that you should have stayed home." He snapped at her in an overly aggressive tone. She knew what he really meant was '_are you okay? You look like you need to go back to the castle and get some rest.'_Levi spoke a slightly different language than the rest of them, and luckily for him, she understood exactly what he was trying to say.

"I'm fine." She insisted, though she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to persuade him. It was an obvious lie. She looked (and felt) like she was going to lose it at any given moment. Her face paled, and her eyes darkened with a blood lust. Her grip tightened on her stomach. The Earth's ground trembled beneath her each time one of the Titans took a step.

"Titan's are battling each other?!" A soldier nearby Levi, Nicole and Erwin's group shouted.

"Yes. The damage to the city is mind-boggling… There are large numbers of both civilian and military casualties." Another responded in a panicked voice. Everyone had wide, anxiety filled eyes.

The leader of the soldiers nearby picked up his gun and pointed it directly at Erwin. Nicole's muscles tensed, her urge to kill something only grew stronger when a weapon was directed towards the trio she was currently a part of. Her heart was pounding inside of her chest, she was moments away from lunging at the soldier holding the gun and tearing his throat out. Erwin, on the other hand, remained calm and unmoving. He wasn't afraid of the soldiers before him. He was doing what had to be done; he was doing something that he strongly believed in. He was willing to die a gruesome death for this cause. "Erwin! Is this all the result of your operation?!" The leader shouted, shaking with rage.

Buildings were crumbling to the earth's floor in the background. Screaming could be heard as the citizens desperately ran for their lives and cried out to an absent God. "It is." Erwin responded, his voice held strong, never once faltering. His hard stare remained fixated on the soldier holding the gun as he spoke. He tried his best to keep eye contact so that hopefully this man before him could see just how serious he truly was. "I acted completely arbitrarily and on my own. I won't make any excuses."

The soldier looked almost shocked that Erwin did not defend himself or make up a lie. He dropped his gun, however his anger did not die down in the slightest. He stomped towards Erwin and hostilely grabbed him by the collar of his uniform. "You should have known the consequences of such an operation inside the city!" The soldier bellowed, "Why'd you do it?! How could you go through with it?!"

"To earn a victory for humankind." Erwin's answer was short and simple, and he spoke it with certainty in his tone.

"Don't give me that!" The soldier shoved Erwin back, letting go of the collar of his uniform so that he can once again aim the barrel of his gun at Erwin's head. "You're a traitor! If I executed you where you stand, none of our superiors would complain!"

Nicole and Levi quietly watched from the sidelines. Nicole suppressed a low growl and glared at the soldiers before her. She was ready to take them all on if necessary. Seeing so much violence had gotten her so riled up. The hair on the back of her neck stood up like a feral cats would when threatened. Unknowing to the soldiers, her claws were flexed, as she readied herself for a fight.

Erwin remained persistent. He wasn't going to be defeated so easily. "Be my guest. But take over my command."

"What?" The soldier paused, genuinely shocked by Erwin's response to his threat.

"Make sure she doesn't escape. Pere is in charge of deployment; Beiler is in charge of logistics. Work with them to force the female…"

"W-wait, hold on a second!"

"...up against the east wall…"

"Do you seriously think this is for the good of humankind?" The soldier asked, completely baffled by the situation before him.

"I believe it's a first step."

The soldier trembled in his spot. He clenched his eyes closed for a moment as he thought over their entire conversation and contemplated on what to do. Once he decided, he lowered his gun. "Everyone, lower your weapons!" He ordered, turning towards one soldier in particular. "Cuff him!"

"Yes sir!" The soldiers replied in unison, following their captain's orders.

"Send every man we've got and make evacuating the citizens and rescue the highest priority!" Multiple soldier's responded with a 'yes sir' immediately after before they started to organize and do as they were told. "Erwin. I'll leave your execution up to the proper court."

"When this is all over, I will be honored." Erwin stated as they cuffed him. Erwin turned his gaze towards Nicole and Levi. "Levi, you stay put. You know how you despise needless deaths."

Levi slightly glared in Erwin's direction. "Yeah, you're right about that…" Levi was his usual tense, angry self. His foul attitude only amplified Nicole's hostile mood. "Whether it's dying needlessly or causing one."

With that last statement said, the soldiers began to take a step forward with Erwin. Nicole finally began to calm down as she watched them retreat. She hadn't previously realized it, but she had been clenching her hands into fists so tightly that her nails had once again punctured the flesh of her palms. She relaxed her grip, the injuries quickly began to heal before anyone else could notice. _Everything was going to be okay… it was almost all over…_ She repeatedly thought to herself, trying to calm her shaken nerves.

But not every day was meant to have a happy or victorious ending. "Lucky that they made the right decision. It looked like you were fully prepared to murder them if they chose the wrong one, _Lyra."_ That familiar, condescending voice made Nicole's skin crawl. Her eyes widened and she slowly forced herself to look in the direction from which the slithery voice originated. Levi followed her gaze, startled by the voice just like she was.

There above them, sitting on the edge of a roof with one leg bent and the other hanging off of the rooftop, was Colin. He hand his hands placed firmly behind him so that he could lean back while staring down at them. His yellow reptile eyes fixated on his sister. His lips curled into a sinister smile, revealing his dangerously sharpened fangs. "It's good to see you, Lyra." He commented with sarcasm practically dripping from his voice. His beastily eyes quickly shifted from her to Levi. The corners of his lips twitched from both annoyance and sickened amusement. "I always knew you would disgrace the Knight's bloodline even more by _fucking_ a human." His tone fluctuated in such a way that he managed to put even further emphasis on his vulgar choice of words.

Just like that, she was ready to commit murder again. _"Colin…" _The tone of her voice alone should have been warning enough to back off. But Colin was not one to listen to a warning.

Levi was utterly confused by this point. He could sense that tensions were getting higher, but he wasn't sure why. He glanced back and forth between the two, silently observing all of their similar features. They were obviously related. What could be causing such a negative tension between the two? He could sense the tension only building, and at the moment he was silently cursing himself for not having his swords readily available.

"Nicole, who is this?" Levi demanded to know, but he was ignored by both parties. They were too fixated on one another, both of them trying to predict the others moves.

Both of the blondes continued to glare at each other and the air became noticeably heavier. "Bring it," Colin hissed out, a hint of malevolence flashing in his viper eyes. Before Levi could have a chance to react, suddenly both figures disappeared. They moved at such a high speed that both of their forms seemingly evaporated right before his eyes.

Levi's head snapped from side to side as he desperately searched for Nicole. "_What the hell!"_ He hissed out in both frustration and terror. _What the hell is going on… _He had never seen anything move so quickly in his life. He half thought that he was hallucinating and going insane. None of this day made any sense to him...

While Levi was left behind, Nicole was chasing after Colin at top speed. Luckily the angelic seal placed on her had little effect on her speed. She knew that following after Colin was a poor decision. It was so obviously a trap, and she should have known better. If this were any other place, somewhere where Levi was not present, she would have done things differently. However, despite knowing it was a trap, she also knew that Colin was not afraid to annihilate everything in his path to get what he desired. If she didn't follow him like he wanted to a more secluded area, Levi would have certainly wound up dead. Not to mention everyone else within a five mile radius would also probably be massacred in the process…

Nicole continued to chase Colin in a high speed pursuit until he led her to an underground tunnel way, one like the tunnel the soldiers had tried leading the female Titan into. Nicole's senses went into hyperdrive as she was consumed by the darkness of the shadows. Luckily for her, she could see even in the darkest of places. Her feline eyes searched the tunnel for Colin. "Don't you dare hide from me!" She shouted, her voice echoed down the tunnel.

"No one ever said anything about jiding." Colin's voice drifted to her ears from behind her. She spun on her heels, but was met by a fist coming straight for her face. She barely managed to dodge it, she threw herself backwards and stumbled into a wall to avoid the hit. Before she had a chance to retaliate, he swung at her again. She shoved herself off of the wall just in time. The instant that Colin's fist connected with the concrete wall, the hardened material crumbled beneath the powerful force of his attack.

His hits were deadly, and the worst part was that he wasn't even trying. He was merely toying with her, and she knew that. "What's wrong, Lyra? Not up for a fight?" Colin taunted, a wicked grin pulled at his pale lips. Nicole stumbled to the ground, finding herself out of breath. The seal on her left shoulder burned at her flesh, forcing her to refrain from using any demonic strength.

_Dammit, not now… _Nicole attempted to pick herself back up, but Colin swiftly turned on his heels so that he could connect his foot with her ribs. His kick to her side earned him an agonized yelp from Nicole. She tried to pick herself up again, but he struck her with another harsh blow to the rib area. Her arms gave out beneath her, causing her to collapse to the hardened ground.

She hit the ground with an over exaggerated amount of force. By this point she was struggling to keep her eyes open. Blood pooled in her mouth, spilling past her lips. She groaned, gargling on her own blood as it choked her up. "Tch, come one, get the hell up you half breed!" Colin reached down, grabbing Nicole by the collar of the loose shirt she was wearing. He effortlessly tossed her into the stone wall nearest to them.

Her body smacked into the wall's surface before crumbling to a useless heap on the ground below. How stupid was she? She suddenly realized how foolish she had been trying to stand up to him. She couldn't beat him, especially not in this state. She couldn't defeat him at her best, so what made her think she stood a chance now? Her heart literally skipped a beat when she heard him step towards her. "What's wrong with you?" He inquired, his eyebrows furrowing and his head tilting to the side. "Why are you so much weaker?" He reached for her again with a strong hand, but this time something caught his eye when he tugged at her shirt. He noticed something when he pulled at her shirt's collar. Colin roughly pulled the shirt over her left shoulder to reveal where her collarbone and should conjoined. His attentive eyes examined her collar bone area, scrutinizing her new tattoo marking. Recognition flashed across his face, his expression went from shock to pure rage. He forcefully shoved her back, dropping her back to the ground.

He took a few steps back, letting everything set in. He was completely furious. He had come here to kill her, but there was no point in defeating an enemy if they weren't at their strongest. Killing her now would prove nothing other than that he was a coward. He paced back and forth, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair from frustration and anger. "No, _no, __**no!"**_ It was uncharacteristic of him to lose his temper and fall into such a tremendous rage. He was usually so apathetic and unemotional. He finally snapped, spiralling on his heel and forcing his hand directly through her lower abdomen, impaling her.

"Gah!" Blood spewed from her mouth, her hands immediately reached down to grab his wrist to attempt halting his movements.

His lips pulled back over his teeth as her snarled at her. "You get to live another day, _Lyra,_ but I _will_ figure out how to remove that seal, and then I _will _kill you." He promised with a lethal growl before disappearing. The instant that he disappeared, she collapsed back to the ground.

She laid in her own pool of blood, too weak to stand. Her mind aimlessly wandered over the bizarre events that had just taken place. _I'm too weak,_ she realized, _that's why he didn't kill me…_ It was both a slap in the face and a relief. She was spared by her vulnerability.

_How laughable…_

She sat there in that same position for a long time, silently wondering why he hated her to such a degree. She knew that he felt that she wronged him. Before she had come into existence, he was in line to be the heir to the throne of the Devil. He was the only full blooded demon out of the six children, and he was the oldest. He had rightfully earned the title of the Devil's successor through all of his training and hard work. He had happily been on his way to the position of royalty.

Until she was born.

Out of all of the children, she was the one unfortunate enough to inherit the Devil's eye. She subconsciously reached up to touch her left green demon eye. It was funny, how something as simple as an eye could determine your entire future. The Devil, their father, considered this to hold some sort of special meaning. Neither her nor Colin understood what that meaning was, but that didn't change the fact that Colin was automatically stripped of his title the instant that Nicole came into existence. She had won the title of the Devil's successor by default.

He had loathed her very being from the day that she was born. She never understood why he couldn't forgive her for something she never intended. She tried to give up the throne. She denied her title and given name. She refused to be the new Devil. It was never what she asked for. Sure she would have enjoyed the fear and respect that came along with the title, but she couldn't handle the rest. She didn't want to always play the bad guy. Part of the Devil's job was playing the villain for the greater good. But despite how much she tried to appear a cold hearted demon, the fact of the matter was that she wasn't truly heartless. She couldn't cope with the emotional toll that the job of the Devil would surely take on her.

She would gladly give the title to Colin, but that wasn't an option to him. He wanted to win that title fair and square. Tears began to fill her eyes as she found herself growing more frustrated. She just couldn't win...

**_Author's Note: This is a chapter that everyone will probably either love or hate. I swear to God, Colin is just one of those characters that you will just love to hate... Even I was sitting her just seething while writing this. I would love to clock Colin in the face (though I would undoubtedly die immediately after). Anyways, since I don't want to spoil the original story line for anyone on here who has not read the manga, from here on out I am thinking about making this story more original. (Don't worry, I will still include Titans). But be prepared to meet a couple more Hell bound beasts (;!_**

**_Ps. Also, if you see this story posted else where, please report it. Someone informed me that other people have been stealing it and posting it on other sites while taking credit for it. _**


	17. Humanity (Let's Be Honest)

Chapter Seventeen: Humanity (Let's be honest)

_"I'm scared to get close_

_And I hate being alone_

_I long for that feeling to not feel at all_

_The higher I get, the lower I sink_

_I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim..."_

_-Bring Me The Horizon (Can You Feel My Heart)_

"Nicole, do you know where you are?" Hange asked, reaching forward to touch her hand to Nicole's forehead to check her temperature. She was clammy to the touch. Nicole remained leaning against the stone wall behind her, unresponsive. Her eyes were barely cracked open. Her blonde hair was sticking to her face, weighed down by sweat and half dried blood. Her breathing was shallow and slow, almost undetectable. Hange's eyebrows furrowed as she examined the open wound on Nicole's lower abdomen. She had been profusely bleeding, so much so that she was sitting in an abundant pool of her own blood. It was incredible that she was still alive. She glanced over the purplish bruises that covered an enormous part of Nicole's body. Hange highly doubted that a Titan was the one who did this to her. "Do you know who did this to you?" She asked again, in a sympathetic voice. She still didn't receive a reply.

She began to worry even more. If she died, who knew how Levi would react. Hange had never seen Levi get along with someone to such a degree, and despite the fact that Levi and Hange didn't always get along, she still worried for his mental and emotional state of health. "Someone get some medical supplies. We need to stop the bleeding before we can move her to a hospital to be properly treated." She ordered, only taking her eyes off of Nicole for a moment. Her squad members obeyed, immediately bringing Hange a first aid kit. "You're going to be okay Nicole," She tried reassuring the unresponsive girl.

Hange was under the assumption that Nicole was only half conscious, and that was what made her so silent. But that wasn't true. Nicole was fully awake and functioning. She was just in a lot of pain, both physically and emotionally. She had emotionally shut down as she searched for a way to cope with the emptiness that she suddenly felt after countering her oldest brother. Nicole's mind kept replaying the events that had happened prior to Hange's arrival over and over again. She was so desperately trying to decipher why Colin hated her to such a degree. How could someone hate their own flesh and blood so much that they were willing to murder them? She swallowed hard, trying to force down the lump that she felt developing in her throat. She tasted the coppery blood in her mouth; her sense of smell was overwhelmed by the musty scent in the air. Her eyes burned as tears threatened to spill over. She couldn't comprehend the reason. You couldn't rationalize fratricide.

Hange paused when she heard Nicole gulp. Her eyes remained glued to Nicole's face. Nicole picked up her left hand and used it to cover her mouth in attempt to stifle her sob. "Nicole…?" Hange called out again. Watching the young girl break down before her hurt her very soul. This poor child was broken, and she didn't know what was causing so much distress. Hange felt useless, unable to help this girl the slightest bit. Hange had a few bandages in hand that another soldier had brought her. She reluctantly motioned towards Nicole so that she could began wrapping her wounds. "I'm going to need to remove your shirt," She warned Nicole in a calm voice, doing her best to not startle her. Nicole still refused to reply. So Hange cautiously reached forward, tugging at the bottom of Nicole's shirt and slowly inching it upward so that she could get a clearer look of the wounds.

She froze when she had pulled the shirt half way up Nicole's stomach area. _"What the…"_ Her deep brown eyes widened in shock. Beneath the shirt, the edges of the hole in her stomach had already began repairing themselves. There was a line of developing scar tissue where Hange could clearly see where the wound has once been._ Nicole's injuries had already began to heal at an alarming rate._

oOoOoOo

Hange had taken Nicole to the hospital as soon as her injuries were tended to and the bleeding had stopped. She left Nicole alone to rest peacefully, but peace didn't come so easily. Nicole remained wide awake. She laid in the hospital bed, in a fresh pair of clothes. Her eyes were fixated on the ceiling above her. She still had the previous shirt she had been wearing held in her nimble hands. She fidgeted with the material, frowning to herself. It was Levi's shirt, and now it was torn, stained and completely ruined.

_How did I end up in this place a second time?_ She thought to herself, wallowing in her own self pity. She was contemplating her options from this point on. She could try to fight Colin, but she didn't see any positive outcome in her favor. She was not strong enough, and she wasn't sure that she ever would be. Compared next to Colin, she was nothing. She frowned to herself at that thought, then began to move to her next option. She could run again. But where would that get her? He always found her, regardless to how far she ran. Besides, she wouldn't run this time anyways. Her mind flashed to Levi. A saddened smile formed on her lips. She knew that she had royally screwed up, but she couldn't find herself capable of regretting her mistake. She couldn't bring herself to ever abandon him by this point, she was too deeply involved in his life now.

Nicole was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Levi's voice in the distance. She perked up, forcing herself into a sitting position. She held onto the torn shirt that remained in her hands with a tight grip as she eavesdropped in on Levi and Hange's conversation.

"Her accelerated healing is incredible!" Hange exclaimed. Levi didn't like that she got the same excited glimmer in her eyes when she talked about Nicole that she got when she talked about Titans. "When we found her, she had been impaled and it looked as if she had been beaten severely, but within the process of the last two hours, almost all of her injuries have recovered. She is healing at a similar rate to Eren. If I could do a few tests on her, I might be able to-"

"No." Levi cut her off, immediately shutting her down the moment that she began to suggest experimentation on Nicole. He wouldn't let Hange treat this poor girl like a lab rat.

"But Levi, this could be revolutionary," She insisted, moving her arms in such a way to exaggerate her point.

"No." He restated, his jaw clenching as he fought the urge to backhand her for such a stupid suggestion. "Erwin put me in charge of her. The answer is, and will remain, a no." His tone was overly aggressive. All he wanted was to see Nicole and make sure she was alright. The last time he had seen her, she had been so riled up that it worried him. She was always being so reckless, he never knew what to expect with her.

Nicole listened in, feeling slightly relieved that she could count on Levi to protect her from this insane woman. Before she knew it, she found herself climbing out of bed and making her way to the hallway where Levi currently was. He always made everything better, and at the moment she really needed comfort. She stumbled down the hallway, only dressed in the oversized spare white shirt that Hange had provided her with, with Levi's bloodied, torn shirt still in hand.

Levi paused the instant that his eyes fell on her. Hange noticed his sudden silence and turned around to follow his stare. Nicole looked horrible. Her hair was disheveled and crusted with blood. Her skin was even paler than usual, emphasising the dark circles underneath her eyes that had developed due to stress and extreme exhaustion. Her usually bright red lips were a pale skintoned color. Her body trembled as she took each step forward, most likely from all the blood loss. She looked nothing like her usual self.

Levi frowned as he watched her approach him slowly. He found himself stepping forward and carefully slipping an arm around her waist so that he could hold her up incase her legs gave out. She leaned into him and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Can we go home?" Her voice was hoarse from being so dry. Her tone was dull, making her sound so defeated and weak. Levi opened his mouth to tell her 'yes', but he was prevented from doing so.

"We have to check your wounds first," Hange blurted out before Levi could answer, earning her a deadly glare from Levi. Hange wanted to find out as much as she possibly could before Levi took this perfect specimen from her.

"I'm fine." Nicole retorted, her voice nearly cracked from distress. She just wanted to be alone, with the exception of Levi. Being here, with all of these soldiers was only depressing her further and reminding her of her failure to put up a decent fight against her brother.

"We still have to-" Hange began to argue.

"_I'm fine!_" Nicole snapped, her eyes suddenly became violent. She yanked up the shirt that she was wearing, revealing her completely healed stomach region. Hange's eyes widened when she noticed that there was no visible scar tissue, or even so much as a trace of any injury on her body. Nicole yanked her shirt back down after giving Hange a look at her 'wounds'. She turned her gaze back to Levi, her expression softening once more as she once again begged him to take her back to the castle. He immediately complied, placing his hand on the small of her back and leading her out of the hospital, all while glaring over his shoulder at Hange.

oOoOoOo

Nicole was laying in Levi's bed, with blankets wrapped around her and a cup of warm milk in hand. Her hair was still damp from her shower, and her face was still pale from exhaustion. Her eyelids drooped, her body lightly trembled. She was still in shock, trying to cope with everything that had happened. Levi sat on the edge of the bed, his attentive eyes were glued to the cup that she held. He was paranoid that she would clumsily spill some of the milk in his bed. He had just cleaned the sheets, and that surely would be a trouble if she dirtied them again so quickly…

It didn't take long for her to notice how on edge he was. She followed his eyes to the cup, then decided to alleviate his anxiety by setting the cup down on the nightstand beside the bed. Levi nearly let out a sigh of relief as his nerves were calmed. The two of them sat in an awkward silence for a while before Lyra broke the silence. "Why are you so nice to me?" She found herself blurting out. The bizarre question caught him off guard. She had been wondering this for a while. It had been as clear as day from the very first time they had met that he was not a 'people person'. Yet with every emotional and physical advancement she had made towards him, he had complied. At times he may have been reluctant to respond, but he was trying nonetheless. Levi blankly stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate. Realizing that he was uncertain of where this inquiry spawned from, she added, "You are smart enough to know that I've been lying to you."

It was true. He had realized that long ago. He was reluctant to answer. "Everyone has their secrets…" He thought of his own history, with his mother, Kenny Ackerman, his dead friends and the numerous crimes he had committed in his youth. Those were memories that he would prefer to not share with anyone, so he understood that some people had their personal things that they just wanted to keep to themselves. Besides, he found that he trusted her, at least enough to allow her to keep her own personal space. "I figured that you would tell me if it ever became relevant."

Her eyes dropped to her lap as she listened to his answer. She didn't know whether to smile or to cry. Things like this were the reason why she was so deeply falling for him. "I…" She began, her mouth hung open for a minute as she struggled to formulate her words. "I'm not human, you know." She openly admitted. Those words left a stinging chill in the air.

This was what he had been secretly wanting. He wanted her to open up to him and form a more intimate relationship. He wasn't yet willing to do the same, but being human, he craved a certain closeness that no one else beside Nicole would be able to provide. But despite wanting to know more about her, he wasn't one to pry. "I know." He, along with many others, had suspected for a while that she was not human. It had become blaringly obvious by this point. That had been the whole point of him being put in charge of her.

"And I'm not not a Titan either." She murmured, her eyes briefly lifting to examine his facial features. This statement was slightly unexpected, but he found that he believed her. He had never experienced anything besides humans and Titans in his lifetime beforehand, but he wasn't completely close minded towards the possibility of there being something more. "Would you believe me if I said I wasn't from this world?"

It almost sounded like more of a rhetorical question with the way she spoke. Levi kept his eyes on her, closely examining her body language. He noticed that she looked sad and completely emotionally vulnerable. He did believe her, and even if he didn't, he didn't have the heart to accuse her of being a liar. He took a moment to ponder over her question. "Yes."

"Do you believe in God?"

Her question seemed irrelevant, but he chose not to question it. He had never been much or a religious person. Unlike many others, he did not blindly put his faith in an absent figure that provided no protection for his people. "I don't know."

Nicole nodded in understanding, already knowing where his doubts in God spawned from. "Or rather, perhaps the easier question to answer, is do you believe in the Devil?"

With everything that he had seen in his short human lifespan, he was far more inclined to believe in the Devil. He couldn't help but to occasionally wonder if there was an outside force playing against the human race. He contemplated over the idea for a little bit longer before eventually replying with another "I don't know".

She understood his doubts to the fullest extent. It must have been hard for someone to try comprehending that there was another world out there when you had lived all of your life believing otherwise. "They're real." She didn't know how to break that fact to him gently. Levi remained quiet, waiting for her to explain herself. She didn't know where exactly to start in order to explain the concepts of her life to him, so she decided to begin from the beginning. "God isn't the original creator of life. There were two before him, Death and Time. Death and Time are typically considered the only things that could ever possibly outlive God, so it would make sense that they were the parents of God.

"Their first two children was God and his sister, Mother Nature. Also often referred to as Gaia in many other mythology. And together, these two children created an entire universe of their own. They birthed angels, demons, humans and animals all alike. But unfortunately for them, their creations did not coexist very well. Between the angel's sense of nobility, the demon's disloyalty, and the human's greed, there was constant war. Not just war between the individual groups, but war among the people of each group as well." She looked up to make sure that he was still following along with her story. His eyes were intently fixated on her as he took in everything that she was saying. "God had to restart his universe multiple times. He was forced to wipe his children out over and over again, trying to teach them their lesson, but they never learned. Ultimately, no matter how hard he tried, they kept falling down the same dark path. Eventually, he lost control entirely.

"That was when his brother and second sister were born. The Devil, and Chaos. Death and Time birthed a second pair of children, meant to counteract and balance the actions of their first children." A sad smile took hold of her lips for a brief moment as she continued to explain, "You see, humans typically have some deranged idea that the Devil was once an angel, and that he fell from the Heavens into Hell. But that belief could not possibly be more wrong. The Devil was never an angel, he was never one of God's child, and there was no Hell in existence before he existed.

"The few people who do comprehend the fact that the Devil was infact the creator of Hell, generally come to the conclusion that he did this because he is corrupt, or evil. But those people clearly are missing the point of Hell all together. Hell is a place of separation and repent. Like a prison. Before their was a Hell, where do you think the sinners went in the afterlife? The same exact place that everyone else went. So even in death, they continued to haunt the innocent. So they never were forced to learn their lesson. The Devil saw this, and immediately created Hell in order to fix that problem.

"He took all of the demons that God had created along with the sinners, Giving them a place to live that was not among the innocent. Giving them a place where they could freely terrorize souls without an angel interfering. However, it didn't take long for the demons to discover that they could actually kill a human soul entirely. They began to consume the souls of sinners, never allowing the soul to be properly cleansed. This threw off the balance of the universe, because souls were never meant to be destroyed, just recycled and reused.

"The Devil quickly realized that he couldn't do everything alone. God had way too many children for him to fight off. So he decided he wanted an army of his own. He wanted demonic creatures like himself, but he didn't want them to be mindless beasts like the demons God had created. This problem trumped him for sometime, but his problems were easily solved when he met the love of his life.

"He met an angel, the first born daughter of God, named Angelica. She was one of the strongest, most complex creations God had ever made. Luckily for him, she responded to affections, and had become pregnant months after their affair began…" She trailed off for a moment, deep in thought and hesitant to say more. "Those children… All six of the ones the eventually had, were the solution to his problem.

"They had six children, three sets of twins. One boy and one girl in each set of twins. They were all half breeds. It was the perfect combination. They were each born with the strength of the Devil, and the nobility and conscious of an angel. He had unintentionally made himself the perfect group of soldiers. However, not all of them were as successful as the rest. The first male born, named Colin, was incredibly unstable. His instability led to the death of his angel side, making him a full fledged demon.

"Regardless, since Colin was the first born male, he had been originally chosen as the Devil's future successor. The Devil trained him, teaching him how to properly fight and led so that one day he could take over his role. Colin absolutely loved the idea of running Hell. He wanted everyone to fear him, to respect him… He was perfect for the job, and he was just cold hearted enough to do it…But when the second set of twins were born, everything changed.

"The second born daughter, Lyra Einar, was born with 'the mark'. She was born with one of the Devil's eyes. The Devil took this as a sign from the universe, and made her the new chosen successor. Colin was stripped of his title the instant that Lyra was born. Causing him to hate her, and dedicate his life to killing her and proving himself worthy of the title once more." She finished her summary, her throat had gone dry. She uncomfortably twiddled her thumbs the entire time she had been speaking.

Levi took a moment to process everything she had told him. He had no idea why she was telling him this story. "Why are you telling me this?" He finally wondered aloud, his eyebrows furrowing as he waited for a response.

Nicole's eyes lifted to meet his in a meaningful gaze. "Because I'm Lyra." Her voice nearly cracked as she admitted that out loud. It hurt her to the very core to be forced to acknowledge her own true identity. "And that man you saw, was Colin."

The statement hung in the air with an awkward undertone. He recalled that the man they saw did infact refer to her as Lyra. And there had been no doubt in his mind from the instant that Levi had laid eyes on that man that he was not human. The longer that Levi stared at Nicole, the more he realized that he had no doubt in his mind that she was infact telling the truth. He closely scrutinized her elongated canine fangs as she spoke, and her feline mismatched eyes as she stared at him. Her pointed ears, sharpened claws, and other animalistic features suddenly became more pronounced. How had they all missed this? No titan shifter looked anywhere near this bizarre.

But the longer her stared at her, the more he realized that not only was she a beautiful, powerful demon… She was also a lonely, vulnerable girl. A vulnerable girl who just wanted to be accepted, and to find a place to fit in and call her own. A girl who just wanted stability and love. A girl who was empty inside...

"When you found me, in the forest, my injuries were not from a titan. They were from Colin. We had gotten into an argument about whether we should check on the human race or not. I thought that we should check to see what was causing so much chaos, and he disagreed. He tried to kill me as a result, and nearly succeeded. Luckily I was able to escape. I came here, thinking it would be safer and quieter, somewhere that I could easily recover… I couldn't have been more wrong." She added, frowning at the memory. She wanted to reach out and touch his hand, but she refrained from doing so. He probably thought she was a monster. "I'm sorry for not telling you from the very beginning. I should have informed you before getting so deeply involved in your life. I should have given you the option to leave before things got complicated… If you want to leave now, you can, no questions asked. I will not blame you."

He couldn't even begin to fathom why she was apologizing. She had a valid reason for keeping this to herself. Telling others not only would put her in danger, but could jeopardize everything around her as well. He stared at her, unblinking as he tried to figure out her reasoning to saying sorry. The longer that he remained silent, the more nervous she became. She was willing to let him walk away, but it was not an option that she was prepared for if that was what he chose. Her blood ran cold and her heart beat picked up in speed. She was about to have the worst anxiety attack of her life. "I'm really sorry, for everythin-" She had been cut off mid sentence when his lips gently pressed against hers. She froze, baffled by his actions. Her eyes were wide when he parted their lips.

Their foreheads touched as he continued to stare into her eyes. "I'm not mad," He reassured before leaning in to steal another kiss. Those words made her melt in his arms. He always knew the right thing to say. "Just don't lie to me again," He added between kisses, closing his eyes and kissing her with a gentle sweetness.

"I won't, I _promise._" She murmured through passionate kisses, her hands reaching up to rest on the center of his chest. This wasn't the response she had been expecting at all. She expected him to be angry, like he usually was towards most people. At the very least, she expected him to be disappointed, or at least mildly upset. But this… this was unexpected. Her eyes had fallen shut as she leaned into his kisses, enjoying the intoxicatingly sweet taste of him. Her hands began to close around the fabric of his shirt, clutching a handful so that she could use it as leverage to pull him in closer. He took the hint, shifting his own body so that he could crawl over her with ease. He placed his palms firmly on the mattress on both sides of her, holding himself up so that he didn't put too much weight on her. Despite her accelerated healing abilities, he wanted to be gentle with her, just in case she was still bruised or internally injured.

Noticing that he was trying to be gentle with her, she let out a small growl of dissatisfaction. She gave a forceful tug on his shirt, attempting to pull him down closer. She didn't want him to treat her any differently than usual. Regardless to her hints, he continued to treat her with more kindness and gentleness. He found that he wasn't in the mood for something rough or frenzied. He just wanted something passionate, yet sweet. Something more than just crazed lust… He wanted to love her, the way that a woman deserved.

He reached with one hand to gasp her hands in his and stop them from trying to influence his motions. She froze the moment he took one of her hands in his and entwined their fingers together before placing their conjoined hands back to where his palm was originally resting. Their kiss had been unintentionally broken so she abruptly turned her head so that her gaze could follow their interlocked hands. Her eyes brows furrowed as she stared, trying to determine what this particular gesture was supposed to mean. As a demon, she occasionally had difficulty trying to decipher and comprehend the meaning behind actions such as these. Levi allowed her to break the kiss and quietly observed as she tried to understand what he was secretly telling her.

Rather than waiting for her to figure it out, he leaned down so that he could trail kisses down her exposed neck. The sensation of his lips touching against her skin distracted her from her confusion. She tilted her head to the side, further exposing her neck to him so that he could continue to kiss her. A pleasured purr rumbled inside of her throat, her eyes fell shut as she enjoyed his touches. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, receiving a tighter squeeze in return. His lips trailed down to her collarbone, he stuttered in motion when his lips reached the edge of her shirt. Eager for more, Nicole sickly separated herself from him for a moment so that she could slip the shirt over her head and toss it to the side. She had not been wearing any pants under the over sized shirt, so she was left in merely her undergarments. Before she had the chance to unclasp her bra, he had grabbed one of her hands again and pressed it down to the mattress underneath his own hand. She didn't fight him, she simply let him dominate her. He leaned down, purposely moving in an agonizingly slow motion before capturing her lips in another sweet kiss.

His gentle kisses were growing more passionate with each passing moment. He bit down on her bottom lip, demanding entrance. She gradually complied, parting her lips beneath his so that his tongue could explore the inside of her mouth. Her tongue shyly reached out to wrestle for dominance with his, her free arm wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer. She breathed out a content sigh, only to have the noise swallowed by her partner.

He released her hand so that he could reach down and slide his hands over her thighs. He ran his palms up and down the smooth flesh of her legs a couple of times before sliding his hands up to her backside and squeezing her rear. Nicole let out a quiet moan at his actions, her hips rolled up towards him as she arched her back. Somewhere in the process her legs had been pulled around his waist as he settled in between her thighs. He fit so perfectly between her legs. Without further thought, he had begun to mindlessly grind into her, ignoring the fact that he was still clothed and she was still in her panties and bra. The friction made her moan again, she trembled beneath him and whimpered, wordlessly pleading for more attention. _"Levi, I need you... "_ She breathed out between smothering kisses. He rocked his hips into her once more, earning more sweet words from her. _"I really want you,"_ She added on. Her hands reached downward, one of her hands fumbled with the button of his pants while the other slid underneath his shirt and she dug her nails into his obliques. She clawed at his side, just above his waistline and pulled him harder against her.

Even through the barrier of clothing, she could feel his erect manhood rubbing against her. She quivered beneath him with anticipation, not able to get his pants undone quickly enough. Once she finally unbuttoned them, she eagerly began to remove them, then moved on to his shirt. Without warning, she tugged on his shirt, pulling it over his head. They broke their kiss for a quick moment, then remet seconds later. Sensing how impatient she had become, he didn't waste his time in sliding her panties down her slender legs and thrusting himself into her tight core. Nicole yelped in response, her entire body jerked with the motion. Her hands shot up to his shoulder blade, her claws bit into the untouched flesh of his upper back.

Taking her scratching as a positive hint, he thrusted into her at a steady pace, making sure that each time he penetrated her he went deeper than before. She tried to beg for more, but each word she spoke just came out as a series of jumbled syllables that were swallowed by Levi. She could feel her heart pounding so rapidly inside of her chest that she was convinced that it was going to burst at any moment. Her thighs trembled around him as her tight insides were stretched to their maximum capacity. For such a small man, he sure had a nicely sized member.

Her face was flushed; his lips slyly left hers so that he could trail more kisses down her neck. Before she knew it, she was already approaching a climax. Levi parted his lips over her neck, his hot breath lingered on her skin, giving her goosebumps. He thrusted into her with increasing force, quickly sending her over the edge. She let out a pleased cry as she reached an orgasm, her muscles tightening on his shaft. He continued to penetrate her throughout her orgasm, riding it out until he was able to finish after her. He grunted when he reached his limit and spilled his semen into her. She absentmindedly kneaded at his shoulder blades with her sharpened claws, a satisfied purr emitted from her throat. "_I love you_," she signed out, coming down from her moment of ecstasy. She had never said those words to anyone. Her heart froze in mid beat the instant that those words came out of her mouth. She had never before actually understood those words. But the more that she thought about it, the more she realized that love was the only thing remotely close to describing what she felt for him. She adored and valued this human man more highly than anyone else. She had come to cherish him above her own eternal soul. She wanted a life with him. Not just a life with him, but an immortal life with him. She wanted a family with him, and she wanted nothing more than to make him happy.

By that point Levi had stopped all motions. He remained on top of her, still inside of her as his manhood lost its stiffness. He kissed her sweetly, pretending that he didn't hear the slip up of words. He knew how difficult expressing emotions was for her, so he assumed that her words of affection were clearly due to the influence of the euphoria she was currently experiencing. "I love you." She repeated, this time saying the words with more certainty in her voice.

She had never before felt so accepted in her life. Even in her own world, she was often shunned for being different. Being a half breed in itself was a difficult thing to deal with. She had never imagined that he would still treat her just the same after having the knowledge of what she truly was. She gave him one last, long sweet kiss to express her gratitude and new found appreciation.

He was shocked to hear her say those words a second time. Her trembling body snuggled up against his as he continued to lay on top of her. His muscles went lax, he finally allowed himself to put some weight on her. Those words were something he did not know how to say. Her feelings were clearly shared, but he didn't yet have the will to say it out loud. The two began to calm down, their breathing slowing down to an even pace. Nicole began to squirm under him. He took the hint and rolled off of her so that he could lay on his side behind her. He wrapped both of his arms around her and pulled her back into him so that her back was pressed firmly against his chest. Being there, cuddled up against the man that she loved and enveloped in his warmth was the most wonderful thing she had ever experienced. Nicole found herself beginning to doze off, her eyelids became heavy with sleep. She curled up, sinking into the comfort of the mattress before drifting off into a pleasant slumber.

oOoOoOo

After a few hours of napping, Nicole finally began to come to. Her eyes fluttered open, her vision was blurry with tiredness. She shifted, suddenly noticing a limp pair of arms wrapped around her. She perked up, carefully rolling over so that she could view Levi's sleeping face. Her lips, now returned to their usual crimson color, twitched into a delighted smile. "Wake up, love." She whispered, gently nudging him awake. He slowly came too, groggy from exhaustion.

"What is it?" He asked, confused as to why she thought it was necessary to wake him up. She tapped her index finger to her lips, indicating that she wanted him to kiss her. He didn't hesitate to obey. He leaned in close to press his lips to hers. His arms tightened around her waist and pulled her closer to him underneath the sheets.

"Look, I support your awkward little relationship one hundred percent, but I swear to God, if you bone my sister in front of me, I'm going to have to kill you." A tenor toned voice echoed from behind them.

The pair jolted at the voice, quickly parting and snapping their heads to the side to see who was talking. There was a teenaged boy, approximately Nicole's age in appearance, sitting on top of Levi's dresser. His lengthy legs were crossed beneath him, and his arms were crossed over his broad chest. The boy had a similar hairstyle to Nicole, a semi short haircut with side bangs and multiple layers to give his hair a decent amount of volume. The top of his head had a patch of deep black hair, but underneath that blackened layer, the underlayers were an ashy blonde color. His hair style framed his angular face nicely, emphasising his high cheekbones and strong features. His eyes were rather feminine with his long black lashes. Like Nicole, he had two different colored eyes, though in his case his right eye was green and his left eye was golden. Though unlike her, he had rounded pupils instead of narrowed pupils.

His features were perfectly balanced between masculine and feminine. He had that type of beauty that everyone was attracted to. He could make any girl want him, and possibly any man too. He uncrossed his arms and let them droop to his sides, resting his palms against the surface of the dresser beneath him. His mismatched eyes remained focused on the couple in front of him.

"You couldn't knock?" Nicole growled out aggressively, glaring at her twin brother. "You have no boundaries, Codey."

"Boundaries are for those who have something to hide, Ly." Codey commented, offering a half smile just to annoy her further. Levi continued to glare at the intruder, secretly wishing he had his sword. Codey noticed the look that Levi was giving him. He stuck his hands in front of him and gave a surrendering shake. "Chill your shit, I'm not here to steal your girl." He joked, receiving no hint of amusement from Levi. _Geez, what a prude._

Nicole let out a defeated sigh. She gently touched her palm to Levi's chest in attempt to calm him. "It's okay, Levi, it's just Codey, my twin." His muscles relaxed a little bit when she touched him, but his grey eyes continued to glare directly at Codey. Nicole's eyes wandered back to her brother, "Why are you here, Codey?"

"Mother was worried about you. They all were…" He told her, shifting his eyes to focus purely on her face. "Get dressed. We have a lot to talk about." He told her before disappearing into thin air. He moved at such a high speed that is appeared that he could teleport.

Levi immediately tensed back up, still not used to their unnatural speed. Sensing his discomfort, Nicole leaned over to kiss his cheek and warn him, "He's down the hall, in the kitchen." She could hear him raiding the cabinets, curious as to what they contained. "We should get dressed, I should probably hear out what he has to tell me." She added, tugging at his arm to indicate that it was time for them to get out of bed.

He was silent the entire time, quietly seething about the fact that his moment with Nicole was ruined. But he followed her lead when she crawled out of bed and made her way to the shower. She twisted the handle, turning on the faucet so that she could rinse herself off under the hot water. She shivered at the warm water coated her skin, cleansing her of her passionate moments with Levi. He quietly watched her, only making contact to lather up her body in soap and help clean her.

"I can do it myself," She commented, watching as he gently scrubbed her body clean.

"It's better when I do it." He stated somewhat bluntly. She wasn't sure if that was an insult or a sexual comment.

"It is," she agreed, a flirtatious smile curving her lips. He moved from her body to her hair, running his fingers through her hair until tiny suds formed.

"You guys are so fucking _gay_!" The two of them heard Codey shout from the kitchen.

Levi froze when he realized that Codey could hear them. She realized his sudden hesitance. "Oh, I should have warned you, we all have hypersensitive hearing." She informed him as if it was obvious.

He gave a brief nod of his head in understanding. "So this entire time, you could…?"

"Hear everything you, your squad, Erwin and Hange was saying about me? Yup." She stated nonchalantly, reaching out to begin cleansing his body with a handful of soap.

"Interesting." He made a mental note of that for the future. He would need to be careful with that, it could get him in a lot of trouble. Once the two of them washed off all of the soap, they turned off the shower and dried themselves off with freshly cleaned towels before throwing on some clothes. Levu dressed in his usual uniform attire, and Nicole threw on one of his plain longsleeved white shirts. It reached down to her mid thigh, so she didn't bother putting on a pair of pants. She pranced out of the room to quickly meet her twin at the kitchen table. She entered the room to find him already sitting at the table, boredly twirling a spoon that he found between his fingers.

She took a seat across from him, his eyes lifted to meet her. "Interesting choice in clothes," He commented on her attire.

She ignored his comment. "What's going on?" Levi walked into the room, taking a seat next to Nicole. Codey's eyes drifted to Levi for a moment, then back to his sister. He narrowed his eyes, silently asking whether it was acceptable to outwardly speak in front of the human. Nicole nodded in response, understanding his unasked question.

He was hesitant, but he decided to trust his sister's judgement. "I'm sure that you are aware of Colin roaming the human world..."

Nicole grimaced, knowing that fact far too well. "Why is he here? Did he follow me?"

"No, actually. He made the mistake of coming home after the disagreement the two of you had." The spoon that he was twirling between his fingers suddenly came to a halt. His hand dropped to the table's surface as he set the utensil down. There was a pained look on his face when he recalled the memory. "He just sauntered right in the door with that damned smirk of his, covered in your blood. We all thought you were dead."

There was a dreary silence in the room. Both twins dropped their gazes. Nicole pictured how tragic that moment must have been for her family, while Codey found himself imaging how much pain his sister must have been in back in that moment. Levi noticed the regretful expressions on both of their faces. He reached out to gently nudge Nicole's hand with his own, offering her his hand. Her gaze shifted to his extended hand. She attempted to smile, but the smile quickly faltered. Her fingered laced with his; she set their conjoined hands down in the center of her lap.

Codey composed himself after a brief moment and continued, "Father nearly lost it. You were always his favorite. He nearly slaughtered Colin on the spot. But you know Colin, he can slither out of any situation."

"Why wouldn't your father just come here to take care of the situation?" Levi chimed in with a disapproving grumble. What kind of father would let this happen? He couldn't help but to scowl, seething at the very thought of what had happened to Nicole. He paid no mind to the gentle squeeze that Nicole gave his hand.

Codey glanced at Levi. "You have sass." He acknowledged approvingly. "I like that." Levi's eye twitched in annoyance. He couldn't tell whether Codey was being sarcastic or not. He had a hard face to read. "Our father would have come here if he could, but he cannot leave Hell. The entire dimension feeds solely off of his energy. It would collapse on itself if he were to leave its perimeters." He answered Levi's question before returning attention to his sister.

"I see." Of course that spiteful prick would come here for safety and then still try to kill her. Nicole found herself absentmindedly rubbing her thumb in imaginary circles over the back of Levi's hand out of a nervous habit.

There was a part of her that was angry, and ready to fight, but she knew better than to listen to that side. The other half of her was just sad, and left feeling empty. She was torn between two worlds. She knew that if she went home now, she would be safe and she could be in the company of her family. But she also knew that Hell was even more dangerous for Levi than his current world was. Her heart ached as she longed to return home to her family. She had spend hundreds of years with them, she wasn't used to being so far from them.

"Levi, may I speak to my sister alone?" Codey and Nicole shared a meaningful look. Levi was reluctant to leave her side. She turned towards him and nodded her head in approval before leaning towards him and giving him a peck on the lips. He did not kiss her back, still not entirely fond of public display of affection. His lips twitched into a deeper frown as he wondered what they could possibly need to talk about that he couldn't be around for, but he allowed them to have their space. He released Nicole's hand and took a stand, walking off to his room to wait for them to finish.

Once they knew Levi was out of hearing range, Nicole spoke up. "What is it?"

Codey's lips drooped into a frown. He had a guilt ridden look on her face. "I'm the one…" He trailed off, having a hard time admitting his secret aloud.

Nicole's eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed as the confusion set in. "You're the one who what, Codey?"

He motioned towards her left shoulder with his eyes. "I'm the one who placed that seal on you."

She stiffened upon hearing this. She was too shocked to be angry. She couldn't do much besides asking a one worded question. "_Why?"_

Her twin shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I saw things…" He murmured more so to himself than her. His voice picked up in volume; his eyes finally met hers. "I saw a life here for you. I saw love, friendship, family… I saw a happy life for you. And I knew that if I didn't do this, than you would be too much of a stubborn asshole, and wind up losing all of that potential happiness."

His reasons made a lot of sense. Ultimately, if he had not sealed her, she would have never ended up with Levi. She would have never met any of the kinder humans. She contemplated his explanation, carefully composing her thoughts. "Can you remove it?"

"No…" He reluctantly admitted, fearing her oncoming wrath. There was an awkward silence that hung in the air. She was thinking over all of the information he told her. Codey grew more nervous as he saw an array of emotions flash through her eyes. Her expression finally settled on a blank, empty stare. He was almost positive that she was about to go into a white rage.

That wrath never came.

"Thank you." And she meant it.

_**Author's Note: So rather than studying for my exam that's tomorrow, or writing my essay that is due tomorrow, this is what I do... lol. I planned to have this posted yesterday, but it actually came out a lot longer than I intended. I just really got into this chapter...**_

_**Anyways guys, thank you so much for all of the reviews for the last chapter! The more reviews I get, I typically write faster because it motivates me. I really have no plan from here on out. Lol I am kind of free writing. Hopefully you enjoy it. **_

_**And I wish everyone that keeps commenting would get an account so that I could actually message them back!**_


	18. Break Out

Chapter Eighteen: Break Out (Advantages of a Demon Ally)

"Never look into the Devil's eyes- you'll be trapped forever."

"Nicole?" Levi's groggy voice called out into the darkness. He could have sworn that he heard a door closing in the distance. The noise of the shutting door had awoken him from his peaceful slumber. He had reached out to feel for his lover, but he found an empty cold space on the other side of the bed. His eyebrows furrowed and he felt a sudden pang of distress. It wasn't like her to leave in the middle of the night. He stood to his feet and threw on a pair of pants before making his way down the hallway in search of his lover. She was nowhere to be found.

He stopped in front of the bedroom door which he knew Codey had been taking residence in for the night. He quietly pushed the door open, stealthily peaking inside. No one was there. He pushed the door further open so that he could get a better view of the room. His eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness, but he could tell from what little light there was that the room was empty. The sheets on the bed were neatly folded, and it almost appeared as if no one had ever even laid down in the bed. His jaw clenched as he picked his brain for any clues on where they might be. There was a small part of them that feared they ran away and went back to their own world, but that seemed unlikely. Where the hell did those brats go…

oOoOoOo

At the military police's heavily guarded prison, a pair of soldiers stood watch at the entrance. They were perched on either side of the heavy dual doors, with rifles in hand as they stared out into the darkness of the night. "Damn this job is so fuckin' boring…" One of them complained with a grumble.

His partner paid little attention to him, keeping his eyes forward. "You complain too much." He commented.

"What the hell did you say?" The other barked out, just trying to start a fight. But his fellow soldier did not bite. A sudden awkward silence fell between them as the tension dissipated. "Prude…" He mumbled beneath his breath. There was noo reply. Instead of words, all that the soldier could hear was a sickening crackle of bones. He nearly jumped out of his skin and made a sharp turn just in time to see his comrade collapse to the ground. His head was twisted to the side, his neck bone was obviously broken. "What the hell?!-" He began, but before he could make too much noise, a hand reached around from behind him, covering his mouth. The soldier never had a chance to react, with one quick motion, the mysterious person snapped his neck with ease.

Codey watched as the second body fell to the ground in a lifeless heap. "I'm not so sure that killing them was necessary." He commented, stepping up to the crime scene where his sister lingered.

Lyra crouched down, reaching over the corpses so that she could examine their faces more closely. "Trust me, they deserved it." She retorted with an attitude. Most of the military police did. From her short time of living among the humans, one of the things she had learned was that most of the soldiers were cowards who only cared for themselves. Lyra stood upright before turning and forcing open the heavy doors that the guards had once protected. Her twin shrugged in response, taking one last glimpse of the two bodies prior to following his sister into the building.

The hallways were rather long, and surprisingly vacant. For a moment, Lyra doubted that they were at the correct area, but she was certain that she could smell Erwin and Eren in here. She had followed their scents to this building. Her senses had never failed her before, so she carried on with caution. Codey crept behind her, keeping a close proximity the entire time in case of an emergency. He had no idea who they were searching for, but he knew that his sister insisted that they were important to Levi, and needed to be saved.

Lyra paused when they reached a fork in the hallway. "Shit." She muttered underneath her breath. Her nose twitched as she sniffed the air, trying to determine which path to follow. Her eyes narrowed as she focused. She didn't have time to spare.

"Com'mon, this way." Codey motioned his hand, picking the left path. She raised one eyebrow, silently asking how he knew their scent. "You said one of them was a titan boy, right? There's one this way." He told her, answering her unasked question. With being of canine descent, his sense of smell was always greater than any of the others in their family, so she chose to listen to him. "So tell me, Ly, why do you care so much about what happens to the humans?"

A jailbreak mission was an awkward time to start a conversation, but Codey had never been one to be subtle. "What makes you think I care?" She asked in a low voice, still keeping quiet as they searched for any guards. He raised an eyebrow at her, silently saying 'are you stupid?'.

"You don't just break anyone out of prison, Ly."

Her lips twitched into a deepened frown. "I've seen some things here. Not all of them deserve what's happening in their world." She pressed herself against a wall when they reached a corner, carefully peeking around the side to make sure they could avoid the security. They easily tiptoed past the guards when their backs were turned. "And these people that we are here for, I believe they can help."

Codey briefly nodded in understanding. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought over everything he had learned about the human world so far. "Have you figured out what they are?" He asked, referring to the titan beasts.

She let out a small sigh, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Lyra shook her head in reply, her blonde hair swayed with her motions. "No." She mouthed, overly conscious of the people nearby.

"We should bring it up to father." He suggested. She nodded in agreement. Their father must not have known about all of this chaos. He would never allow for something so cruel to happen to innocent people…

They came to a closed door at the end of the hall. They glanced at each other, sharing an uneasy look. Codey was the first one brave enough to reach out, grasping the knob with a firm grip and turning it. The instant that he pulled the door open, an alarm came screaming to life, alerting everyone that the building had been breached. Lyra glared at Codey. "Really?" She snapped, no longer concerned with remaining silent.

He threw his hands up in defense, "Well what the hell else was I supposed to do?"

"They're over here!" They heard a group of soldier rushing down the halls.

"Fuck it," Lyra swore before dashing down the stairs that the door led to. Once she reached the bottom of the basement, she finally found the prison cells that they were searching for. Her head shot from side to side as she searched for the two humans she was seeking.

"Nicole?" She heard Eren's weakened voice call out from a few cells down. Her head perked up, she jogged over to the prison cell. Eren looked completely exhausted, almost sickly. His wanly flesh was drenched in sweat, his chocolate brown hair was sticking to the surface of his own skin. It hurt her heart to see him in such poor condition.

She reached out, wrapping her hands around two of the bars that kept him caged. "Hang on, we are going to get you out of here, Eren." She promised, sucking in a deep breath before giving the bars a harsh tug. Her teeth clenched when the seal burned at her flesh, sizzling away at her shoulder, but she was able to muster enough strength to yank the two bars loose. She pulled them straight out of the buildings foundation, creating a wide enough opening for her to slip inside the cell. She tossed the iron bars to the ground, letting them fall with a loud 'clang'. Her narrow figure slipped past the new opening. She kneeled beside Eren, her hands wandering over his form to check for any injuries. "Are you hurt?" He shook his head. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the shackles that were holding him in place. Her jaw set firm as she attempted to refrain from swearing about how unusually cruel these people were to their own kind. She reached for the chains that bound him and yanked two of the chainlinks apart, freeing him from the wall. She would have to properly remove those later.

She reached for one of Eren's arms and pulled it over her own shoulders, using her own weight as leverage so that she could lift him up and assist him with walking. "Lyra! Is this the other one?" Codey called out, standing before another prison cell. He stared at a blonde haired man that remained on the other side of the bars. Lyra glanced over at them, immediately recognizing the blonde as Erwin.

"Yeah, grab him." Codey obeyed her command, pulling the barred door off of its hinges with ease. Lyra and Eren stumbled forward out of the prison cell. She shot Codey a dirty look. "Show off."

He smirked while ushering Erwin out of the cell and coming up with an exit strategy. "I try."

oOoOoOo

Lyra and Codey had snuck back to the head quarters that Levi remained shortly after stashing Erwin and Eren in a secure hideout. Codey crept back to the guest room Levi authorized to him, while Lyra snuck back into Levi's bed chambers. She wasn't surprised to find Levi wide awake, impatiently waiting on the bed for her to return. He scowled the moment she tiptoed into the room, gently closing the door behind her. "Where did you go?" He demanded to know.

Her bright eyes glanced up at him. "It's far better if you don't know, believe me." One of his eyebrows arched, he began to ask why, so she answered, "Plausible deniability. Words to live by." She offered him a faint smile before making her way back to bed and crawling under the sheets. She laid her head down and stared up at him with loving eyes.

A small sigh escaped his lips, he laid down with her after turning off the lamp beside him. His human eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness, but he was still able to make out her vibrant feline eyes in the darkness. "What did you do?" He asked again, this time in a softer voice. She curled up to his side, resting her head on his chest. He pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her slender form.

"You will know soon I am sure." She kisses the flesh of his chest, before nuzzling in closer to steal his warmth. "Believe me, you don't want to know yet. Rest easy for the night. All of the trouble can wait until tomorrow." She was right. It could wait till the next day.

_**authors note: am so sorry guys! This semester of school kicked my ass. Thank you guys for all the lovely comments and support. Here is a really short update. I plan for things to get a lot more interesting really soon. I was going to follow the original plot, but decided to follow my readers suggestions and do my own thing so that I don't ruin season 2 for anyone. **_

_**Thanks again guys!**_


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